Going Muggle
by Xavras
Summary: Set after the Battle of Hogwarts. Harry and a few other classmates, individually decide to leave for the muggle world for various reasons. This will be non-epilogue compliant. No slash. (There will be more than angst and romance, there will be: Revenge, Fighting, Good men, Bad men, Beautiful ladies, Passion, Chases, Escapes, - wait, it's not that story, but it still should be fun)
1. Chapter 1

**Going Muggle**

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**AN: This story begins after the Battle of Hogwarts. It is NON Epilogue Compliant. It will be about friendships. It will have some romance, some non-canon relationships. This idea came to me while I was on vacation. It is different from my other stories. Chapters are being worked on, the ending is NOT written in stone yet.**

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**May 3, 1998**

**Day after the Battle of Hogwarts**

**Boys Dorm, Gryffindor Tower**

Harry Potter woke up and slowly rubbed his eyes. However he immediately regretted his actions as every muscle in his body seemed to groan in pain. Despite sleeping soundly in a warm bed with no fears of Death Eaters or of Riddle, and with no intruding thoughts or images from the truly defeated Dark Lord, his body was sore and exhausted. He rolled slowly onto his back and stared at the top of his bed for a few minutes as he considered what he had accomplished. He had actually done what he had thought he might never do. He had defeated the Dark Lord, he had survived, and the prophecy would no longer control his life. For the first time ever he finally felt free. He let out a long deep breath and enjoyed the sensation of the release of pent up tension.

As he laid in his bed contemplating his new found freedom he considered what else this would mean. Before he managed to get to bed last night he knew that the ministry had already hailed him as a hero, and that the Daily Prophet was planning to run a story, probably on today's front page, hailing him as "The Boy-Who-Conquered" or some other such tripe.

Harry wasn't sure he was ready to deal with a new round of attention. Slowly he pulled himself up and out of his bed. He managed to trudge to the bathroom and into the showers. He felt refreshed and more awake once he had managed to finish bathing and dressed himself in some fresh clothes. By the time he had managed to get himself ready Ron and the others in his dorm were also ready to join him for breakfast down in the Great Hall.

The house elves had already cleaned up the Great Hall and prepared breakfast for those who were staying at the school. Families who were still at the castle had been given rooms to stay in, the elves had converted old class rooms into dormitory style rooms. Several families would be leaving to make arrangements for loved ones who were killed during the battle, others were heading to St. Mungo's with family members who were injured and were receiving care at the hospital there as the infirmary here at the castle was clearly overwhelmed with the number of injured from the battle.

By the time Harry and his dorm mates arrived at the Great Hall many people had already arrived. When Harry walked in, everyone stopped eating. Initially they all just stared at him in silence, and then they started to applaud, and then Harry was receiving a standing ovation from then entire hall.

Harry started to feel a little embarrassed at the continued attention, but he managed to smile and wave slightly at the crowd as he followed Ron and the others to a table as they sat down to enjoy their breakfast.

Soon they were beginning to enjoy their food. Soon they were joined by Hermione and Ginny as well. Neville was sitting next to Harry on his right while Ron was on his left and the girls were sitting across from him. Luna joined them at their table as well.

"So, the ministry is calling you a hero now," commented Luna as she sat down.

"That's what I hear," said Harry as he was about to eat his breakfast.

"Well, all of the Death Eaters and the Purebloods are probably mad at him," added Ron, "probably all want revenge for what he did, taking out You-Know-Who and messing up their plans for society and all that."

Harry rolled his eyes at that comment. "Can't I ever get any rest from this?"

"You can do anything you want, Harry," said Hermione, trying to encourage him. "You always wanted to be an Auror."

Harry let out a long sigh at Hermione's words. "I think that I've had enough of chasing after the bad guys, or having the bad guys chase after me. I think that I've earned the right to rest for a while."

"But what about your N.E.W.T.s? You still need to take them to get a job," added a worried Hermione. "What are you going to live on?"

"I don't know, but I am of age," replied Harry, feeling tired with this conversation. "I may have inherited a bit more than just a trust vault after all."

"You're really going to back to Gringotts?" asked Ron incredulously.

"Don't see that I have much of a choice in the long run," said Harry, resigning himself to the inevitable confrontation he would have with the goblins.

Ron muttered under his breath, "That can't possibly end well."

Neville who had been sitting with them and listening in wondered what they were taking about returning to Gringotts. He decided he would just have to ask Harry about it later, perhaps when he returned the Sword of Gryffindor to him.

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**Abbot Household**

Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot had decided not stay at Hogwarts once the battle was over. With the trauma of their entire seventh year due to the abuse from the Carrows they were eager to return to the safety of Hannah's home. Susan had been spending all of her time out of school with the Abbots since the Death Eaters and Voldemort had murdered her Aunt Amelia during the war, leaving Susan as the sole remaining member of the Bones family. Officially she was now Lady Bones as she was legally of age, but with the war having only just ended she couldn't care less about her titles or the wealth which she had inherited from her family.

She was lying in her bed in the room she shared with Hannah, who had been her best friend for as long as she could remember. Susan could not even remember her parents, having been orphaned during the first war and raised by her Aunt Amelia. Tears felled her eyes as she thought about her aunt, the stern head of the DMLE who had been brought down by Voldemort during his return to prominence during the second war. "Bloody hell," she thought, "why didn't any of us listen to Harry during all those years? He never did lie to us, ever. He was right all along. He stopped Voldemort as an infant, he faced him multiple times while we were in school, but we always seemed to turn our backs on that poor boy."

Susan cried quietly in her bed as she thought about everything that happened to her, and to Harry, whom she barely knew. She even thought about how much they had in common. They both were orphaned during the war. She heard stories about how his godfather, Sirius Black, had escaped from Azkaban, but that he was really innocent, but then he died at the end of their fifth year, not long before her own Aunt Amelia was killed. All of this could be traced back to a corrupt ministry, and corrupt purebloods.

Susan was lying there and she came to a conclusion. She decided she didn't want anything to do with a corrupt magical society. Or at least she didn't want anything to do with this magical society for a while. She had enjoyed living with the Abbots, it was a comfortable home for her, but she needed to do something to get her mind off of everything that was reminding her of her Aunt, of the people that failed her parents, that failed her Aunt, that failed Harry Potter. She knew she had plenty of money, plenty of gold in her family's vaults. She made up her mind that she would move out on her own, find a place to stay, away from magical society, at least for a while.

"Now I just have to tell Hannah what I'm going to do," she thought to herself.

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**May 4, 1998**

**Great Hall, Hogwarts**

In the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts, the wizarding world was slowing trying to pull themselves back together. Some students had already left school to return home. Muggleborns had come out of hiding. The interim Minister for Magic had already disbanded the Muggleborn Registration Committee, and Dolores Umbridge was already in a holding cell at the DMLE.

Some families had come together at Hogwarts, or at least at the remains of the village of Hogsmeade as there was plenty of work to be done for the rebuilding of both the school and the town. The DMLE itself was busy with trying to round up any of the surviving Death Eaters and any ministry employees who were linked to Voldemort's regime that had been in place during what was now being referred to by some as the Dark Captivity of the Ministry.

The house elves that had survived the battle however were ecstatic. They were busy. They had never been so busy before. They had meals to prepare for students and for families. They had so much clean up to do. They were even helping with rebuilding the castle walls. The goblins were set to arrive shortly to assist with the major reconstruction that the castle would require as well, but for now the Hogwarts house elves were just happily keeping busy doing everything they needed to do, and there was clearly plenty to do.

At one of the long tables in the Great Hall sat a group of students who were slowly eating their breakfast. The food was wonderful as usual, the war was over, but still they had little to be cheerful about, as they had lost so many friends and loved ones. Ron Weasley may have lost a brother and some friends, but he had still not lost his appetite. His girlfriend shook her head in disgust as she looked on and just moved her food around on her plate. She then looked over at the young man sitting next to him, the young man with the dark and unruly hair, and the scar on his forehead that actually seemed a little less red this morning. This young man, this Harry Potter, he too was just pushing the food around on his plate.

"Harry, you need to eat something," she chided.

Harry looked at her and her plate. "You're one to talk Hermione," he replied in a monotone.

Ginny Weasley sat next to Hermione and looked between the two os them. She was trying to think of something to say to both of them, but she couldn't find the words. She had tried talking to Harry yesterday but he seemed so distant. She had tried to get close to him, hoping that now that the war was over that their relationship would pick up right where it left off when Harry left last summer. She had been dreaming that her hero would return, and he had, and he had defeated the villain. She complained to Hermione about her frustration last night and Hermione had given her an earful. At first Ginny had wondered if Hermione was just trying to steal Harry away from her, but then Hermione made it clear that she and Ron were still together. Hermione had explained to Ginny that from Harry's perspective Ginny was a fan-girl, Ron's little sister, and the young girl that he saved all of those years ago from the chamber of secrets. Harry had been through a lot over the past year, and Harry may not be ready for a relationship, at least not a relationship with Ginny. Ginny was angry at first with Hermione and she snapped back at her, asked her how she could possibly know that. Hermione calmly explained that while they were on the run for months from the Death Eaters, trying to find the hidden items, they had many nights they were up talking, and eventually the topic of Ginny came up. Hermione was eventually in tears as she told Ginny what she had learned from Harry. "I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you this, but you know how shy Harry can be around girls, but I really don't think it's going to work out between you two. You're a good friend, and Harry is my best friend. I don't want to see either of you get hurt." Those words still echoed in Ginny's mind from the night before, but it still hurt to feel so distant from the young man she had been building up in her mind for so long as the man she thought she was destined to be with for all time. She tried to calm herself by thinking that there must be dozens of girls who thought the same thing — that they were destined to be with the 'boy-who-lived' — but she at least got to know Harry by going to school with him and by Harry coming by her home so often. And that's when she thought about it more clearly. Harry was there so often because he was Ron's best mate, and she was there because she was Ron's little sister. And she started to accept that she probably would never be much more than the little sister to the best mate of the Boy-Who-Lived. "Get over him and move on with your life," she told herself.

As she was thinking those thoughts she noticed someone walk up to their table.

"Potter, can I have a word with you?" spoke a voice in a tone that was more pleasant than the group of friends had ever recalled.

Ron stopped eating long enough to turn around and snap at the intruder, "Get lost Malfoy, Harry doesn't want to talk with you!"

"Ronald," snapped Hermione, "there is no need to be rude!"

Harry looked up at the blonde young man, "What can I do for you Draco?"

"I'd rather talk to you alone, this is personal, it has to do with something that happened the other day," stated Draco.

"You can talk in front of all of us," Ron answered for Harry.

Hermione kicked Ron under the table.

"Oi!" called out Ron as he winced in pain.

"I'm listening right here," answered Harry, clearly not making any effort to move.

"It has to do with something that happened in the forest," commented Draco, "and I would prefer to speak to you about it in private."

Harry raised an eyebrow, starting to realise what he may be referring to. Harry stood up as he answered, "I think I understand a little better."

Ron began to protest, "You can't just go with him, he's a snake!"

Harry turned back to Ron, "The war's over Ron. Malfoy knows I defeated Riddle, he knows the Death Eaters are defeated. Despite what you might think, Draco is not stupid, and based on what he said, I have every reason to trust him tight now."

"What's this about the forest, Harry?" asked Hermione.

"That's between Draco and me," replied Harry as he followed Draco out of the Great Hall.

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**Slytherin Girls Dorms**

"Shouldn't we be heading to the Great Hall for breakfast?" asked Tracey Davis.

Daphne Greengrass was sitting in her bed, and Tracey's question distracted her from her musings for the past half hour. The heiress t the Greengrass Imports had been contemplating her life after Hogwarts, and she was afraid that her father may start to pressure her into an arranged marriage soon. She knew someone would have to take over the family business and there were no male heirs. One thought that was at least somewhat comforting was that there were no Death Eaters in the family, but with all of the recent infighting within the magical world, particularly with the perspective she had gained from her years in Slytherin she felt she had seen too much, she had had her fill of the pettiness and the manipulativeness that marred their world.

Daphne was roused from her contemplation as Tracey called her name once again, "Sure, I'll be right with you."

As they made their way towards breakfast, Daphne finally spoke up. "Tracey, what are your plans now, what with the war finally being over."

Tracey sighed briefly. "Don't know, I was hoping maybe I could settle down, maybe Blaise is interested in settling down too."

Daphne stopped and stared at her best friend. "But you're not even dating Blaise, the two of you have never been together."

"No time like the present to try and start," she replied with a big grin."

Daphne just shook her head as she was amazed with her best friends attitude. Soon they were in the Great Hall which was fairly full, considering the events of the previous days. They each started to serve themselves food.

Daphne commented off hand, "At least the house elves are still here and are able to make us something to eat." She then looked around and noticed that there were very few people left at the Slytherin table. Many of their house mates had left during or immediately after the war. Then she turned to Tracey as she mused out loud, "I wonder what Pansy is up to now, considering she left right around the time the battle was about to start, when she was all but demanding that Potter be handed over to the Dark Lord."

Tracey spoke quietly so as not to be overheard by any of the younger students who were still present at the school and were seated at their table. "Apparently she is at her family's home, all depressed. Draco is clearly not worthwhile, especially with what happened during the battle. Or at least the rumours I have heard is that his family is in disgrace with the rest of the surviving Death Eaters, but that may not really matter to anyone anymore. But some people think that the new ministry may go easy on any surviving Death Eaters to help bring about peace."

"Like that will ever happen," added Daphne, "not with how the Carrows and Snape treated everyone but those in Slytherin over the past year. Not to mention the Muggle Born Registration committee."

"But they want peace," explained Tracey, "they have always wanted peace, give everyone a second chance and all that."

Daphne scoffed at those words. "That was Dumbledore, and he was taken out by Death Eaters over a year ago. And Draco was involved with that, as was Snape. And Snape is dead. No, they won't be let of lightly, I'm fairly sure of that."

"Well, then what are you going to be doing?" asked Tracey.

"I'm not sure," said Daphne as she nibbled on a roll and scanned the room to see who was still present, "but what I do know is that this whole magical society is sure messed up."

Tracey gave her a simple look that silently asked 'what do you mean.'

Daphne shook her head for a moment, then she answered her friend. "Just take a look at our new hero for starters."

"I can't," interrupted Tracey, "I don't see him anywhere."

Daphne glared at her, then she continued. "He was hailed as a hero when we were all just a year old, and yet no one knows exactly what happened. The Dark Lord was defeated, his parents were killed, he survived the killing curse, and ended up with that famous scar. Then he is hidden away for ten years. He shows up here and is more clueless than either Weasley or Longbottom. But then he starts having all of those grand adventures, almost as if those horrid story books were coming true."

Tracey was incredulous. "You mean you believe those stories from our first year?"

Daphne rolled her eyes at her friend, "The headmaster never denied them. And neither did Granger when I overheard someone ask her about it. We all knew about the troll incident on Halloween. Then, at the end of the year, they get all of this mysterious house points, and the garlic smelling, turban clad stutterer who also incompetent vanishes from school. Yes, I do believe that he was possessed by the Dark Lord and that Potter defeated him. That makes the score 2-0 for Potter. Even if he did spend the week in the infirmary afterwards."

"But what about second year," protested Tracey, "he wasn't the Heir of Slytherin like people suggested."

Daphne smiled at this as she had a ready reply. "No, but he did find out who was, and with the help of Granger again, he figured out everything that was going on. He discovered who, or what, was paralysing the students. He was always there for her. Now why the hell those two were never a couple, I'll never understand. It's like some grand mystery or some power somewhere just never wanted them to be together, but whatever. The rumour with the most credence about our second year is that there was a basilisk on the loose."

Tracey had heard that rumour too. "Then what happened to it? And why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"Because," Daphne added with a slight sting in her voice, "you're about as bad of a gossip queen as Lavender Brown. As far as the basilisk goes, either Potter killed it, which I would find highly unlikely, as he doesn't seem to be that powerful, but then again, he did just defeat the Dark Lord. Or he found a way to control it, which, considering were talking about a basilisk, most likely is a former pet of Salazar Slytherin himself, which would make controlling it very unlikely as week, so he must have had some help with this either way, most likely from the headmaster."

Tracey considered her friend's summary of their first two years in school and then she asked about the next year. "So then, what about our third year?"

"Well, that year was fairly uneventful, other than his being hunted down by the escaped Sirius Black," Daphne began in her recap of their school history. "Black did manage to get on to the school property at the end of the year. He was even captured. Somehow, though, Potter was involved and was attacked by all of those dementors that Fudge demanded be posted as a means of protecting us, or specifically Potter from the crazed mass murdered. Remember how the dementors went after him during that Quidditch match? Apparently at one point Potter drove off over one hundred or more at once."

"But that would be impossible," stated Tracey.

Daphne shook her head. "A: we're talking about Potter here. B: we're talking about creatures that the ministry clearly can't control and have been shown on multiple occasions to enjoy attacking Potter."

Tracey rubbed her forehead as she tried to understand what Daphne had told her. "Over one hundred?"

Daphne nodded, "That is the current report based on several fairly reliable sources. Then that brings us to the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

"And his desire for extra glory," added Tracey.

"When did you start sharing Draco's morning pumpkin juice, girlfriend?" asked an amazed Daphne. "You actually still believe that foolishness that was spread by Draco and others? Who has more fame and glory than Potter as it stands? Only Dumbledore, and after yesterday, I would say that even he doesn't anymore. When have you ever seen Potter truly try and draw attention to himself? Never. Snape or Draco baiting him doesn't count. Snape, or Draco, or even Weasley claiming he was doing so doesn't count either."

Tracey considered her friends words for a few moments and the turned and stared at her. "You know, this is starting to sound like you've been staling him for years!"

Daphne glared at her best friend. "I just simply pay attention to all of the people around us, especially those who stick out. Potter always manages to stick out. And with being three years behind the other students in the tournament, he still managed to actually win the tournament. That set of thing ought to catch anyone's attention."

"But what about Diggory?" asked Tracey.

"The boy who was killed? What about him? Potter told everyone, he was killed," answered Daphne.

"But the reports in the Daily Prophet were that Potter was lying," stated Tracey.

"And those reports have all been proved wrong," countered Daphne, "as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named clearly did come back, and did attack Harry, so that's at least 3-0 in favour of your young hero." Daphne couldn't hold back a slight chuckle at that. "And now he was just defeated by Harry yesterday, and from what we have heard the Dark Lord is truly gone now and can never come back, which puts the tally at 4-0 in favour of Potter."

Tracey just shook her head in frustration as Daphne continued to quote the score as though it were a game. "Besides, if Potter had lied about what had happened," Daphne continued, " the Ministry of Magic could have easily proved that he spoke lies, but they could not."

"Fine," replied a frustrated Tracey. "But then what about fifth year?"

"Potter tutored most of the school," she said, "other than Slytherin house. He survived attacks from Umbridge. I think the whole reason why she created the Inquisitorial Squad was just to try and catch Potter and disgrace him. He was her only real target."

"How the bloody hell do you know all of this?" wondered Tracey.

"I pay attention to everything going on," answered Daphne with a smile. "I may never have liked Draco, but I paid attention to what he said. I read between the lines of what the Daily Prophet published. I listened to what Professor Snape would tell us, yes the man was clearly biased against Potter. It took a while to sift through everything that came across, but there was information there to be gleaned. Also, I got to know Granger in some of my classes. Even listening to Weasley spout off against Malfoy could give you clues about the truth that was out there."

"A true Slytherin," replied Tracey with a grin.

Daphne simply smiled as she considered that she also had other sources that she was not about to reveal to Tracey. The family business of imports and exports allowed her father to overhear a lot of information, and required him to be very skilled in certain techniques which his daughter had to learn as well.

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**Entrance to Hogwarts**

Outside of the Great Hall Draco suggested they find an empty classroom where they could talk in private. Harry scoffed at the idea. "That's not going to be easy," commented Harry, "as there aren't many rooms left after the battle."

Draco shrugged his shoulders. Then they headed outside to the grounds and Draco cast a muffliato charm around them so that no one would overhear their conversation.

"My mother saved your life," he stated simply.

Harry looked at Draco. "So, you're saying that I owe you or her a life debt?"

Draco shook his head. "No, nothing so drastic, but I am requesting a favour."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."

Draco shifted uneasily as he searched for the right way to explain what he was trying to say. "My family's name is clearly not what it once was. The ministry is still against us because of my father's actions." He paused as he gathered his thoughts some more. "The Death eaters, my father's former associates and co-conspirators will be out for revenge against my entire family. They will want to make an example of us, so I figure the safest place foe me is the last place they would look for me."

Harry nods in agreement, understanding a little of what Draco is saying. "It won't be easy for you."

"And why not?" asked Draco defensively.

"You won't fit in among muggles," Harry stated simply.

Draco scoffed, "How hard could it be?"

"For you? It would be very hard," Harry stated emphatically. "We would have to change your name. Come up with a plausible back story for who you are, where you came from. You would need to get a job."

Draco's face became more pale than usual. "I'd have to work?"

"Get over yourself Malfoy," laughed Harry. "Yes, you would have to work. Then we'd also have to get you a muggle ID so you could even get a job in the first place. We'd have to find a place to live and all that." Harry thought for a moment and then he continued. "Before you even can get a job, as I said before, you would have to learn how to fit in to muggle society."

"I can do all that," sneered Draco, "how hard can it be?"

"For many wizards," answered Harry, "it is near impossible."

"I'm not your average wizard," stated Draco.

"Of course not," agreed Harry. "Or else I wouldn't have agreed so quickly to this."

Draco paused for a moment. "Wait a second Potter, you did seem to agree to this too quickly, too easily. Why?"

Harry grinned slightly. "I have my own reasons. Meet me here, tomorrow, say about 3 in the afternoon, we'll speak more."

Harry started to walk away, when Draco called him back. "How do you know you can trust me?"

Harry turned back and laughed. "It's quite simple, Malfoy, you need me for this more than I need you. You asked me to do you a favour. This is one huge favour. As I recall, about eight years ago you offered me your hand in friendship, stating I needed to make the right sort of friends, and that you could help me there. Maybe this is the day I finally take you up on that. But perhaps it is you who have finally learned that you need help in making the right sort of friends. If is true that the remaining Death Eaters are coming after you, you do need my help. I can help you there. Hiding out in muggle London. You won't stand a chance. Most wizards wouldn't, particularly not Death Eaters. I have my own reasons for choosing to go live amongst the muggles, so this may prove to be mutually advantageous. So, it may just be the Slytherin thing to do, for me to help you, not the Gryffindor thing."

Draco stared at Harry in surprise at his answer.

"Oh, and Malfoy," added Harry, "in case you didn't already know this, the sorting hat wanted to place me in Slytherin. But as I had already met you a couple of times, and I was determined not to be placed in the same house as you as you had come across as a grade A git, I told the hat to put me somewhere else."

Draco's jaw dropped. "I had no idea that you could tell the hat what house to place you in."

"You should have known," commented Harry, "why else did you think the hat placed you in Slytherin so quickly?"

* * *

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**Abbot Household**

Susan sat with Hannah at a table in the garden out back.

"Please explain to me again why you're doing this," stated Hannah.

"I just need some time away from the magical world," repeated Susan. "So much has happened, and not much of it has been good."

Hannah frowned, "But why go live among the muggles? Can't you just stay here? We don't have to hang out with others. We can avoid Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and all of that." Hannah then gasped as she came to a realisation. "You don't want to be around me anymore, is that it?"

Susan put her hand to her mouth as she realised her best friend got the completely wrong message. "That's not it at all! You're my best friend in the whole world! I just need some time away from everything. I've lost my parents, my Aunt, and the ministry never did much to try and protect us. In fact, the one person who actually ended the war, the ministry tried to paint as a crazy git, and we even believed the lies the Daily Prophet printed about him. We even wore those stupid buttons during fourth year."

Hannah blushed, "I did, as I recall, you refused to wear them."

Susan smiled at her friend and held her hand, "I didn't want to point that out. But our whole class kind of turned our back on Potter time and again."

Hannah looked down at her feet, "I even accused him of some awful things in second year."

"But he still welcomed us into the DA during fifth year," added Susan.

Hannah looked up, "It's pretty amazing that he put up with us, considering the way everyone continued to treat him."

Susan turned and looked off in the distance. "I wonder what Harry's going to be doing now."

Hannah looked at her friend and worried what would become of her when she went to live among the muggles.


	2. Chapter 2 - Preparations

**AN: This chapter gets away from the multiple perspective and starts to deal with things mainly from Harry's perspective. The first chapter was mainly to introduce the characters who were looking to head to the muggle world for various reasons. Obviously, they will be turning up, eventually. Thanks for the reviews. Obviously, guest reviews cannot be addressed (I will often reply to reviews via PMs). As always, thanks for reading and reviewing. As an aside, Lord Emperor-Dark Hunter is being edited/revised with help. So far 4 chapters have been updated. I am working on chapters 5 - 12 already. Lack of continuity and grammar issues are being addressed in those updates. Now, back to _Going Muggle._..**

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**May 5, 1998**

Harry woke up as the sun was shining through the window into his old dorm room. After he showered and returned to get dressed before heading down to breakfast, he noted that Ron was already gone. Harry then asked Neville if he knew where Ron was.

"I think that the Weasleys have all headed back to the Burrow early this morning to prepare for Fred's funeral." Neville hesitated before saying anything else. "I thought that they would have invited you over for that."

"I think the family is there by themselves," commented Harry, "but I heard that the funeral isn't until tomorrow."

Neville nodded in understanding.

Harry then looked at Neville and gave him a slight grin. "I don't think I ever thanked you enough for what you did."

Neville felt confused.

"With the sword, and killing the snake," explained Harry. "I never would have been able to finish off Voldemort if you hadn't have killed that snake. That was the bravest thing I ever saw you do. I know I heard all about how you and Ginny kept everyone safe in the Room of Requirement, but you really proved you were a true Gryffindor with taking out Nagini. And I know I told you all about how we needed to kill that snake, but I just wanted you to hear it from me, how important that was."

Neville was amazed to be hearing the great Harry Potter thank him so profoundly for what he had done. "Well, my gran had always been telling me, 'that's what we do', Longbottoms that is. 'We stand by Potters', stick with them. We have for hundreds of years. She was so mad at me when she heard I tried to stand up to you at the end of our first year, she thought I might have broken our family alliance."

Harry could tell that Neville was really worried about this.

"Hey, it's all right, Nev. You did what you thought was right. Honestly, I was proud of you for doing that, I was never mad at you for trying to stop us that night. Besides, it was Hermione who put the leg bind curse on you," Harry added with a laugh.

After the two of them laughed about the idea of their rule abiding friend casting the leg binding curse on him so that they could break the rules, Harry became more serious. "Neville, I need to ask you something very important. We're both of age now, what does that mean for us, with me being the last Potter, and your parents being in St. Mungo's, in their condition."

Neville's expression became one of shock. "Wait, you don't know? Has no one ever told you any of this?"

Harry shook his head as he sat back down on his bed. "I was raised by my magic hating relatives. Dumbledore kept me in the dark about almost everything. Hell, he even had Hagrid take me to Diagon Alley to get my wand whereas most muggleborns at least had McGonagall take them and explain a lot more about magic and everything to them."

Neville almost collapsed back onto his bed. "I'm Lord Longbottom, or will be shortly. There is some business I need to take care of at Gringotts to make sure it is all straightened out. It was kind of difficult to do that last year with the way things were going with the ministry. You must be Lord Potter, maybe even Lord Black if your godfather left you the title."

Harry's eyes seemed to grow bigger. "So, I'd have to go see the goblins then?" He seemed a little apprehensive at this thought.

Neville noted Harry's uneasiness. "Is that going to be a problem?"

Harry looked back at Neville, "You could say that. The last time I saw them, a few days ago, I did somethings that may have never been done before."

Neville just stared at Harry, waiting for more of an explanation.

"Well, it wasn't just me," Harry tried to clarify, "it was Hermione and Ron with me."

"Go on," encouraged Neville.

"You can't tell anyone about this," insisted Harry.

Neville shook his head, "Of course not, we're like family, with the alliance."

"Good," said Harry, just accepting Neville's word. "You see, to take care of things to defeat Voldemort, I needed to get a couple of items. One of them was something I found here in the school, the Ravenclaw Diadem. But just before we showed up here, well, the three of us, we went to Gringotts."

"So, you went to the bank," said Neville, unsure of why this would be an issue.

"We needed to get something," explained Harry, "from Bellatrix Lestrange's vault, without her knowing about it."

Neville's face went white. "How could you have done that?"

Harry laughed uncomfortably as he recalled the memory of what they had done. "Quite the crazy plan, is what it was. Something that involved polyjuice potion, a little help from a goblin, a lot of luck, and the use of an unforgivable," added Harry.

"You killed somebody!" exclaimed Neville.

"No, no, no," corrected Harry, "we were almost found out so I had to use the imperius curse, on a goblin. But it was for a _very_ important reason."

Neville narrowed his eyes at Harry.

"Would it help if I told you I felt bad about having to do it?"

Neville was still glaring at Harry. Finally he relaxed and asked Harry to tell him more.

"We finally made it down to her vault, and we actually managed to get in. You see, I had managed to disarm her when we escaped from Malfoy Manor. By the time we recovered the item we needed, we had set off a curse which nearly trapped us in the vault. Besides, we had also tripped several alarms which alerted the goblins to what we were doing, or trying to do at any rate. Eventually we escaped, which we did by freeing a dragon that they used as a guard for the lowest level, highest security vaults."

Neville was now in complete awe as he listened to the story. After a few minutes his excited smile turned to a frown. "Harry, you've got a major problem."

"And what would that be?"

"If the goblins know it was you who broke in, stole an item from a high security vault, and then escaped by stealing one of their dragons, they won't be exactly pleased to be doing any business with you whatsoever," he explained with a sigh.

"That's where you come in, my friend," commented Harry with a mischievous smile.

Neville began to look very worried.

"I'll need you to come with me when I go see the goblins today," stated Harry, and Neville understood that Harry wasn't asking.

Harry could see the obvious worry on his friend's face. "You'll be fine, Nev, you'll be there as my friend, and as a witness to my testimony before them. _You_ won't be in any trouble. Besides, they'll know that you had nothing to do with what happened. I'll also be taking the blame for what Hermione and Ron did, _if_ they'll let me."

Neville was still a little uneasy with this idea, but his new found Gryffindor courage from the past year had won out as he replied to Harry, "Of course I'll do it, for you Harry, a Longbottom will _always_ be there for a Potter!"

"Brilliant," replied Harry with a large grin, "I knew I could count on you! So, we'll just pop on over there and I'll get this whole mess sorted out with the goblins and then I can find out what I have in my family's vaults!"

Neville smiled in return. "Right, sounds like a plan, as long as they don't end up throwing you into one of their mines to work off any penalties."

Harry considered Neville's words for a moment and then he stood up as he said, "We should be fine, so we might as well get an early start on the day and make our way over there to the bank."

As Harry started to walk away, Neville called after him. "Umm, Harry, aren't you forgetting something?"

"What's that?" asked a confused Harry.

"Trousers?" Replied Neville with a slight grin.

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

**Gringotts Bank, London**

A slightly nervous Harry Potter walked into the lobby, accompanied by an equally nervous Neville Longbottom. As soon as Harry stepped foot into the lobby the two were immediately surrounded by several goblin guards.

"I don't think they're very happy to see you, Harry," whispered Neville who tried not to let his nervousness show too much.

Harry smiled thinly as he looked at the goblins who had quickly gathered around them. "Good morning, friends, I think I need to speak with someone who is kind of in charge."

Harry's comment was met with silent stares. Silent but angry stares to be more precise. Harry turned to look at Neville for suggestions but Neville simply responded with a shrug of his shoulders. After a minute a well dressed goblin walked out from the back, flanked by two goblins in full armour carrying halberds.

"That can't be good," commented Neville under his breath.

"On the contrary," replied Harry, "this is more like the reception I was hoping for."

Neville turned slightly to look at Harry and raised an eyebrow, and he whispered, "Are you out of your mind!"

"Not at all," smiled Harry, "this guy looks important, I can get somewhere with this one. Hopefully clear up the little misunderstanding from a few days ago."

"That's all you think that will be to them, just a little _misunderstanding_?" Neville shook his head in amazement as he wondered why it was that he actually agreed to come to Gringotts with Harry for this.

The goblin stopped in front of Harry. He surveyed the two humans in front of him slowly, first Harry Potter and then his companion. The goblin then turned and spoke in gobbledygook to the two guards who were with him. They both laughed a deep hearty laugh for a full minute before one of them turned and walked away. Then the clear leader turned and spoke to Harry, "I must apologise for that little display their, but I had to explain to the guard that I sent away. They did not understand the words which you just used. Apparently a wizard breaking into our bank, stealing a valuable object and making their escape on a stolen dragon was not something that I would have ever surmised as being 'a little misunderstanding.' That was the first time I have ever heard a wizard make an attempt at goblin humour in all my years here. He went to share the news with the rest of the guards. They will be joining us shortly," the goblin added with a feral grin.

Neville gulped at the sound of that. First they were surrounded by a small gathering of what he assumed were guards, then this goblin came forward with two heavily armed guards, and one was sent to get more guards, and Neville could only assume that meant ones armed with the large halberds. He wasn't sure that he liked the idea of goblin humour bringing more such guards to their location.

Harry spoke up for Neville as he noticed that his friend was clearly getting more uncomfortable with the situation. "My friend, Lord Longbottom, was here to take care of some of his own business, and to offer some corroborating testimony on my behalf in regard to the actions that took place the other day."

The goblin standing directly in front of Harry looked between the two wizards in front of him. "So, Mr. Potter, you return here and freely admit to your actions?"

Harry realised that he had to be careful with what he said next. "I came here today to make it clear that I am taking responsibility for my actions and to discuss with the leaders of this fine institution that there were mitigating circumstances that I felt forced my hand in to carrying out what would normally be considered improper behaviour. Perhaps this would not be the best place to discuss the details of what was done, or why, as the specifics are of a most sensitive nature."

The goblin leader eyed Harry closely. "You are a most unusual wizard Mr. Potter. Such candour, and even respectfulness." He turned around and dismissed the group of what was now twenty guards that had assembled. Turning back to Harry and Neville he bade them to follow him to his office. "Of course, you do understand, that the battalion of guards will be at my beck call with even the slightest provocation."

"Understood, sir," replied Harry.

The goblin stopped and looked at the two wizards. "Perhaps I should introduce myself. You may call me Ragnok." He then turned and began to lead the way down a myriad of corridors towards his office.

Neville turned to Harry as he whispered. "Do you realise who this is? He's the goblin chief, the director of Gringotts. There is no one more powerful in the bank, in the entire goblin nation here in England than Ragnok."

Harry smiled as he looked at Neville, "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

Neville frowned, "You don't understand Harry. Ragnok never meets with wizards."

"What do mean never? He's meeting with us now," commented Harry.

Before Neville could reply they had arrived at Ragnok's office and the goblin showed them to seats across from his desk. Once they had sat down and he and situated himself behind his large granite desk he looked at Harry and he answered the question that Neville had not been able to reply to. Two of the guards were already in the office, standing behind Ragnok, on either side, so that each one was facing either Harry or Neville.

"Mr. Potter, I have not had a witch or wizard in this office since I negotiated the sale of Azkaban Island to the Ministry of Magic in 1832 from the previous owner, so I would say that Lord Longbottom's claim that I _never_ meet with wizards is a bit of an exaggeration." Then the director turned to Harry. "Now that I have your undivided attention, in regard to the events of May 1, 1998, according to your calendar, there are some issues that we have here about your behaviour on that day."

Harry took a deep breath as he prepared to hear what the director had to say. Neville gripped the arms of his chair in anticipation of what Ragnok was about to read as the goblin picked up a large parchment.

Ragnok cleared his throat and read the parchment that was now in his hand.

"The Goblin Nation makes the following charges against Harry James Potter:wilfully

"That on the morning of May 1, 1998, you did wilfully and knowingly violate goblin law and Gringotts Banking policies in the following manner:

Use of charms and false identification to illegally access a vault (penalty: 3,000,000 galleons)

Use of charms on a teller to illegally access a vault (penalty: 5,000,000 galleons)

Illegal removal of an item from the vault of another customer, specifically from a class 1 vault (penalty: loss of limb or 10,000,000 galleons)

Theft of a restricted magical creature from Gringotts (penalty: death or 25,000,000 galleons)

Damage to Gringotts London Branch, total repairs of 1,435,237 galleons"

Ragnok placed the parchment down on the desk in front of him. He smiled slightly, bearing his teeth as he imagined the amount of galleons this would bring, plus how much squirming this would undoubtedly cause the famous wizard in front him to begin to go through now that the charges were read.

"How do you plead?" asked Ragnok.

Harry looked to Neville and then back to Ragnok. "May I ask you several questions first?"

Ragnok paused and then nodded that Harry may do so.

Harry smiled slightly. "First of all, can you please explain to me my titles, which houses I am legally head of as far as magic is concerned?"

One of the guards blurted out, "How is that relevant to this case?"

Ragnok held up a hand to silence the guard, and he started to smile. Then he called for the ritual items. While he waited for a goblin to arrive he looked at Harry. "Cunning," was all he said.

A minute later a goblin arrived with a small box and placed it on Ragnok's desk. Carefully Ragnok removed the items: a jewel encrusted dagger, a large parchment, a golden quill, and a rune covered bowl were brought forth and lined up. Ragnok continued to smile as he eyed Harry again. "Most wizards have been too afraid to try this ritual for many years, too afraid they might lose the houses to which they have claimed headship for many years."

Harry nodded in understanding, as many of the pureblooded families would have been afraid to lose their name and titles.

Ragnok then began to explain what would happen next. "The ritual is simple, just slice your palm with the dagger, and fill the bowl with your blood. Once the runes glow, then use the quill with your blood to sign your name at the top of the parchment. Magic will take care of the rest."

Neville looked on with interest and a little concern. Harry glanced over at Neville and gave him a look that indicated that everything would be fine. Then he looked at the size of the bowl, and he estimated that it would take a pint or so of blood to fill it.

Harry solemnly grasped the knife, and slowly he sliced across his left palm, the blood initially began to trickle and then to drip more quickly. The bowl began to fill with the dark red liquid. Harry started to feel a little light headed, but shook off the feeling. Soon the runes started to glow as the bowl was nearly full, and then the wound on his hand was healed with a brief flash of light.

Harry then picked up the golden quill, dipped it into the bowl and then signed his name across the top of the parchment. He was relieved that it did not burn the way using a blood quill had done when he was a fifth year student, even though it was using his own blood as the ink.

_Harry James Potter_

For a moment, nothing happened, and Harry feared that he was in trouble or that he had done something wrong with the ritual. Then he noticed that the runes on the bowl glowed once again. After a moment, the blood ink on the parchment seemed to glow and then that glow started to seep throughout the parchment until the entire parchment had a faint glow. After a few minutes words began to appear.

_ Lord Potter, Noble and Ancient House of Potter_

_ Lord Black, Noble and Most Ancient House of Black_

_ Lord Slytherin, by Conquest_

_ Lord Gaunt, by Conquest_

_ Lord Lestrange, by Conquest_

_ Lord Peverell_

_ Head of House Riddle by Conquest_

After several more minutes there was a bright flash of light and the parchment was no longer glowing.

Ragnok stared at the parchment and then back at Harry. "Well, Lord Potter-Black, it seems you continue to be full of surprises. Never before has the ritual filled the parchment to such an extent. Perhaps this might help you cover some of the fines that you face, but it should not cover some of the other harsher penalties."

He then turned to one of the guards and spoke in gobbledygook. The guard stepped out and returned a few minutes later with another goblin who appeared to be more studious and carried a large brief case.

The newly arrived goblin sat down next to Ragnok and pulled out some documents and started going through them quickly with Ragnok. After several minutes Ragnok turned to address Harry.

Ragnok cleared his throat, and pulled out a new parchment. "We have revised the charges against you, Lord Potter-Black."

Misrepresention of yourself to improperly access one of your vaults (penalty: 150,000 galleons)

Use of charms on a teller to improperly access a vault (penalty 500,000 galleons)

Improperly removing an item from a class 1 vault (penalty 500,000 galleons)

Theft of a restricted magical creature from Gringotts (penalty death or 25,000,000 galleons)

Damage to Gringotts London Branch, total repairs of 1,435,237 galleons

"How do you plead, Lord Potter-Black?"

Harry considered the new charges. "Director Ragnok, I would like to point our several things in my defence, if I may."

"Please do," replied the director, "not that it will help."

Harry smiled weakly as he continued. "The item that I removed from the Lestrange vault, do you know what it was?"

"Our records indicate that it was a highly valued relic among wizards, Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Fabled to be able to heal any disease or poison if one were to drink from it." Ragnok prided himself for already knowing exactly what the item was without looking it up.

"At one time it may have had those properties," agreed Harry. "Did your people not evaluate this item at the time it was placed here by Bellatrix Lestrange? Did your staff not question how such an item would have come into her possession or why she would be storing it in her vault?"

"We do not question why wizards do anything, you are a most illogical sort, Lord Potter-Black," replied Ragnok. "We knew it was Helga Hufflepuff's Cup. It was declared as such. Why do you waste our time?"

"Tom Riddle, the former Dark Lord, also known as Voldemort, gave that cup to her, and she placed it here," explained Harry. "He gave it to her after he had corrupted it. Do you know what a horcrux is?"

There was silence in the room. Ragnok immediately ordered the other goblins to leave.

Then he spoke to Harry. "They should not be present for this discussion. They would not know what a horcrux is, nor should they. Are you claiming that is what the cup was?"

"Yes, that is what enabled Riddle to return." Harry paused and took a deep breath before he continued. "That is what made him nearly immortal. It was one of several such items he had created. Once I had finally found and destroyed all of his horcruxes, I was finally able to defeat him. So, I understand that I violated your laws, that I did many wrong things to come into your bank, to steal that cup, but I needed that cup, and I needed to get it quickly so I could kill Voldemort. There was a prophecy that said that either I had to kill him or that he had to kill me. What would you have had me do? I had little time to act. Once I learned where his horcruxes were, I had to act quickly to destroy them. Once he knew what I was doing, if I didn't get to them before he moved them, all hope would be lost. So yes, I broke into Gringotts. Yes, I took the cup. No, I did not steal your dragon, he broke free on his own. I just used him as a way to escape. So I plead innocent to that charge. The dragon caused the damage, but I suppose you will bill me for that. I have no idea how much gold I have, and apparently I may have a number of vaults, so I will be willing to discuss penalties with you."

Ragnok rubbed his chin, "You have given me much to think about." Then he grabbed a gavel and banged his desk and the other goblins returned.

He then announced that he was rereading the charges.

"Misrepresenting yourself to improperly access one of your vaults (charge dismissed based on circumstances)

Use of charms on a teller to improperly access a vault (penalty 10,000 galleons)

Improperly removing an item from a vault a class 1 vault (charge dismissed)

Theft of a restricted magical creature from Gringotts (charge dismissed)

Damage to Gringotts London Branch, total repairs of 717,668 galleons"

Ragnok looked at Harry as he continued. "How do you plead?"

"Guilty," replied Harry

"Now," Ragnok continued, "we will have an accounting of your current holdings, this should be completed by tomorrow, and we will make a withdrawal of the fines from your main vault as well."

The goblin with the briefcase seemed shocked and muttered something in gobbledygook.

Ragnok turned to him and snapped in English, "Then get others to help you, have an accounting done on _**all**_ of his families' holdings based on the heir test we just did. We will meet at 2 tomorrow afternoon!"

The goblin was sweating and looked terrified as he ran out of the office. Ragnok turned back to Harry. "I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow, Lord Potter-Black!"

Harry was surprised to be referred to by the title already and the surprise was clearly evident on his face. "Don't worry," commented Ragnok, "all of the appropriate documentation is being filed with the Ministry of Magic so that you will be fully recognised as Lord Potter-Black within the hour, and your head of house status for the other houses will also be recognised and incontestable."

Harry was quite amazed by the turn of events by the end of the meeting. He turned to Neville, "Didn't you say you had some business you needed to take care of today?"

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Once Neville concluded his business with Gringotts, it was firmly established that he was Lord Longbottom, but he did not have any additional houses that were under his discretion, as he had been willing to try the inheritance test that he and witnessed Harry undergo. Upon leaving the bank, the two friends decided to grab some lunch at a cafe in Diagon Alley. With the war having just ended, shops were opening, but business was still slow. This suited Harry just fine as he appreciated the opportunity to actually dine in relative anonymity for a change.

"So, Neville, this Lordship business," began Harry in between bites of his sandwich, "what do I really need to know about it? Can you give me a quick run down, because I am really clueless."

Neville laughed at Harry. "I suppose it only makes sense that you wouldn't know anything about it, since you were raised by your muggle relatives. The lords in our society are similar to lords in the muggle world."

Neville paused when he noticed Harry's shocked expression. "What? I actually have studied a little bit about the muggle government. I had to in order to prepare to be a lord, but most of the purebloods ignore that stipulation. So, as I was saying, our Wizengamot is similar to the House of Lords. However, it is possible for someone to hold multiple seats, such as yourself. As Lord Potter-Black, you will have two seats, thus you will have two votes. If you know you can't be present for a session, or multiple sessions, you can choose to have a proxy present for those sessions. I think that Dumbledore had himself placed as the proxy for House Potter for years. He probably claimed he was your magical guardian to do that."

Harry frowned at that thought, not liking one more thing that Dumbledore kept hidden from him for years. "Who was your proxy then?" asked Harry.

"Oh, my grand mum has been the voting member on the Wizengamot for years for the Longbottom family," said Neville. "But now that I am Lord Longbottom, the seat will be mine come the next session. The Wizengamot is where all of the laws for our world are made and voted on. It is also where the trials are held."

"I know about that, from before fifth year, when the ministry tried to set me up and have my wand snapped," complained Harry.

"I remember that," said Neville with a nod. "Actually, my grandmother looked into that and after she spoke to a solicitor, she was most livid on your behalf. Apparently you should have been emancipated at the time your name came out of the goblet. As the tournament rules stated clearly that one had to be of age to compete. Once you were forced to compete then you were declared by magic to be of age, apparently there even notification of this here at the ministry, but the minister and his undersecretary chose to deliberately disregard that information. The fact that you used magic the following summer was NOT underage magic use, it was magic being used by someone who the ministry had already declared was emancipated! Theoretically you could hire a legal representation and sue the ministry for what they did to you, but that would probably be immediately dismissed as it all occurred under a different administration."

Harry sighed, "I'm not sure how that will help, as Fudge is gone and Umbridge is gone. But it just goes to show how much some people in the magical world were threatened by me."

Neville nodded in understanding, and then he continued, "Then of course there are the social obligations of being a Lord."

Harry cast a worried look. "Social obligations? What does that mean?"

"Parties, ministry balls, social gatherings, charity galas, things of that sort. Eventually you'll be expected to host one yourself and invite all of the so called important people," said Neville who clearly wasn't exactly thrilled with the whole idea himself.

"I suppose it could be interesting," Harry thought out loud.

"Down right boring would be more accurate. Although there is other extreme of playing political games and dealing with manoeuvring for power within the Wizengamot which happens quite often at these functions," added Neville with a sigh. "But then again, with you being the Boy-Who-Lived and having just defeated Voldemort and saved our society from the latest war and pretty much taken out the Death Eaters, that type of political gamesmanship will be quite different as everyone will be trying to get on _your_ good side."

Harry's eyes lit up, "Which means they better be trying to get on _your_ good side too or I won't be having anything to do with _them_!"

Neville smiled in response to Harry's vote of confidence in their friendship.

"But on a more serious note, Nev, I will be needing you to do me a big favour," continued Harry.

"Anything," Neville readily agreed.

Harry clapped him in the back. "That's the spirit, just go on and agree to what I'm asking before I tell you what it is."

Neville suddenly paled slightly, worrying what it was that he had actually agreed to.

"No worries, no worries," said Harry with a smile, "it shows you trust me, which I hope I have truly earned. What I need you to do is to stand in as proxy for House Potter and House Black, at least for a little while." Before Neville could say anything in reply, Harry went on to explain further. "I plan on avoiding the magical world for a while, and I'm not sure how long I will be gone. So, I will need _someone_ to represent my two houses. Who better to stand in for House Potter than House Longbottom, eh?"

Neville was shocked, to say the least. "But what if I need to get a hold of you? Do I just send an owl?"

"I plan to be somewhere where an owl can't find me," answered Harry. "The best thing to do would be to send a message through Ragnok, I'm sure I'll leave a way for Gringotts to be able to get a hold of me."

The two friends finished their lunch and made their way back to Hogwarts. Once there, Harry knew that Neville would be heading off to the greenhouses to meet up with Professor Sprout to continue salvaging any of the rare magical plants that were damaged during the battle, while he was preparing to meet up with Draco.

As he was heading towards the main entrance, the youngest Malfoy was making his way out of the castle. "There you are Malfoy, I have some news for you. I have been working on a plan for us through Gringotts, and I do believe they will be able to help us with some of the necessary preparations."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea, Potter? After all, I heard that you had a little bit of a run in with the goblins not too long ago," commented the blonde Slytherin.

Harry raised an eyebrow wondering just what Draco may have already heard. "I just came from Gringotts this morning and I have to return there tomorrow. They're currently working on some things for me, figuring out some issues with my accounts."

"Did you say accounts, as in plural?" asked a surprised Malfoy.

"Yeah, why? Is there something wrong with having multiple accounts?" Harry was surprised by this questioning.

"How can you have multiple accounts? You're just a simple half-blood," blurted Malfoy, unable to hide the prejudices he had grown up with and known all his life.

"Nothing's that simple Malfoy, as you will come to see," replied Harry with a smirk. "You should have figured that out long ago, hell, just look at your own family."

"I know my family is messed up," retorted Draco. "I know my father ruined the Malfoy name. I only hope that through my mother I might find some hope through the Black family, as long as Aunt Bellatrix didn't ruin that side of the family."

Harry looked down at his feet. Then he looked away when Draco stared at him.

"What is it Potter?"

"Your Aunt Bellatrix isn't part of the Black family anymore," Harry said quietly.

"I know my aunt died during the battle," Draco snapped irritatedly. "I'm not a fool, despite what you and your friends would like to think. I am well aware of the many casualties of the war."

"That's not what I meant, Draco." Harry reverted to his first name to try and calm things down.

Draco stared at him. "What could you possibly know about the Blacks? Other than your late godfather who disgraced…"

Draco's words died in his mouth. Draco realised he had never heard it announced who the new Lord Black was.

"No, it can't be. You don't have any Black blood in you," protested Draco.

"My grandmother Potter was a Black," stated Harry calmly and defiantly. "She married a pureblood Potter, Charlus Potter."

"But your father…" began Malfoy

"But nothing about my father, however, my _godfather_ declared me his heir. **He** was Lord Black."

"But he must have forfeited the title when he was imprisoned," argued Draco.

"He was imprisoned wrongly. Sirius was never convicted of anything. He never had a trial. Locking a man in a room against his will proves nothing. Sirius Black _was_ Lord Black the day he died. His last will and testament made _me_ Lord Black." Harry was trying not to lose his temper with Draco.

Draco's jaw dropped at hearing all of this.

Harry continued with his explanation about Draco's aunt Bellatrix. "So, I blasted that bitch Bellatrix off the family tree the first chance I got. Well, it was more figuratively, than literally, of course, but I had to get permission from Ragnok, the goblin leader, to use my magic in Gringotts to do that while I was there, cast her out of the family that is. But I do wonder if that family tree in Grimmauld Place does have a new burn spot on it after the brief ritual I had to conduct to complete that little event."

Draco stared at Harry for a minute and then he burst out laughing. "So now what?"

"I thought we might need to go there today, to Gringotts, but it turns out they won't have my records ready for me to review until tomorrow afternoon, so we can lay low until then," replied Harry.

Just then Hermione came by as she had been searching for Harry. "Harry, aren't you coming over to the Burrow?"

"I was going to go for the funeral later this week," he admitted, "but not before then."

Hermione finally registered that he was with Draco.

"Oh, hello Malfoy," she added in way of greeting.

"Hello, Granger," he replied stiffly.

"What are you doing after the funeral?" she asked as she turned back to Harry.

"I, or we, are looking into our plans for the summer," commented Harry, indicating he was referring to both himself and Draco.

Hermione looked back and forth between the two of them. "Really? The two of you?"

Draco snorted in response to her disbelief.

"It's a bit of a long story, Hermione," Harry said trying to avoid having to go into detail, realising too late that now he probably sealed his fate.

"I'm all ears, Harry," she stated as she turned on him with her hands on her hips, ignoring the third person in their company.

"We've come to a mutual understanding," Draco tried to explain.

Hermione spun around and glared at the blonde. "What kind of mutual understanding could you reach? You and your kind tried to kill Harry and me. Multiple times, as I recall." Hermione was getting up into Malfoy's face and nearly shouting. "Your aunt carved horrible things in my arm, tortured me."

Draco didn't back down or step away. "That was my aunt, that wasn't me," he stated, trying to remain calm.

"Is that all you can say for yourself?" Her question came out more as an accusation though.

Harry tried to pull her away from the confrontation, grasping her by her shoulders.

"What would you have had me do? The house was full of death eaters. I had just told my aunt that I wasn't sure it was Harry," Draco continued his defence, "and we both know I bloody damn well knew it was him. What the hell else did you want me to do? I was taking a pretty big risk lying to her and all of the other Death Eaters that day. If my Aunt Bella suspected for even a moment that I had lied to her about Potter she would have cursed me on the spot, blood relation or not. Nothing mattered to her other than her devotion to that cursed Dark Lord."

Hermione was about to say something more but Harry pulled her back into a hug. "It's okay Hermione. It wasn't his fault what happened to you. Clearly he couldn't stop it. None of us could stop it any quicker than we did. It's all over now, it's behind us."

Hermione started to relax into Harry's arms. She looked up at him again and Harry could tell something else was bothering her.

Seeing that she had something else to say, he asked, "What else is there?"

"After the funeral," she choked out, brushing away tears, "I'm going to Australia. I'm not sure if Ron is even going to come with me. I have to go find my parents. I need to find them. I need to at least try. I need to see if I can restore their memories, I only hope they can forgive me for what I did. Maybe, just maybe, we can return home as a family again."

Draco coughed to get their attention. Draco simply stated, "You can't return home."

Hermione and Harry turned to look at him.

Hermione choked out between tears, "What do you know about returning home?"

"You, and your parents, you can't return home," he stated simply and without emotion.

Hermione looked at him, and then back to Harry. After a moment the meaning of his words sunk in. She lunged at him and started beating on his chest. "You bastard! You little shite bastard! You were there with them then, weren't you. Did you have fun? What did you do, burn my house down? Did you destroy everything first, looking for them, hoping to kill them? Did you kill the neighbours when you couldn't find my parents?"

Harry pulled her back away from Draco. Draco didn't do anything to defend himself, he just allowed her to hit him and scream at him. He said nothing in his defence, he neither denied anything nor did he admit anything. Harry held her tight and tried to comfort her.

Finally Draco spoke as Hermione was calming down to sobs. "I know that no one was killed, there was no one there when the Death Eaters attacked. They did not attack any neighbours. Only your house was attacked and destroyed. For what its worth, and you probably won't believe me, I am glad that you sent your family away."

Harry shook his head at Draco and whispered "later."

Then he spoke softly to Hermione, "Come on, lets go see Madam Pomfrey, we need to get you ready to head over to the Burrow."

Hermione's sobs were slowing down as she held onto Harry while he led her back into the castle and up to the infirmary.

"I can't believe they did that, Harry," she muttered in between sobs as they slowly walked together.

"Yes, you can, Hermione, and you actually knew they probably would," Harry corrected her gently. "That's why you sent your parents away. If anything, it shows that you did the right thing. Even if you can't bring their memories back, you now know without a doubt that you saved their lives. Don't worry about the house that was lost, but be thankful that no one was there, that they were safe, that _you_ were safe."

Hermione looked up at Harry and managed to smile. "When did you become so smart?"

Harry looked down at her dark brown eyes and gently kissed her on her forehead. "When I found the smartest witch in the world and she became my friend."

Soon they found their way to the infirmary and Madam Pomfrey sighed when she saw Harry Potter. "Now what trouble have you gotten your self into, Mr. Potter?"

"It's not for me, but for Hermione," he said trying to explain the situation. "I think she might need a calming draught."

Hermione was holding onto Harry and smiled up at him. "I think I'm going to be okay, Harry and his words of wisdom may be just as good as a calming draught."

The healer looked at the two of them carefully. "Are you sure there is nothing that either of you two need? Something for later tonight, perhaps?"

Hermione blushed as she realised what was implied. Immediately she stepped away from Harry. "No, no, we're just good friends, I'm dating Ron, Ron Weasley."

Madam Pomfrey didn't seem to believe the young witch. Suddenly Harry understood what was implied and he took another step away from Hermione. "Merlin's beard, no, we're just friends, like Hermione said," he protested.

"If you're sure you won't be needing anything else, then," said the healer. "But to be sure, I could always have Mr. Potter spend the night here, after all, he probably won't have the opportunity to do so ever again," she added with a smile. She then pointed to the cot closest to her office. "That bed over there even has your name over it, Mr. Potter."

Harry smiled at her, but politely declined the offer.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**Wednesday, May 6, 1998**

Harry and Draco arrived at Gringotts at 2 in the afternoon, in time for Harry's meeting with Ragnok and in order for Draco to meet with the Malfoy's account manager, Grimhide. Grimhide was not exactly happy to meet with the Malfoy scion, but under the direction of Ragnok, he agreed to have documents prepared by 3 o'clock. Ragnok turned to Harry and Draco. "The statements for the Malfoy scion should not be too hard to come by. What his father has not squandered is being claimed by the ministry of magic. We will look into this matter straight away."

However, Ragnok was surprised that Harry had anyone with him for his meeting about his own financial review, but Harry indicated that both he and Draco had some mutual business that they would need to conduct. Ragnok then invited them both into his office, indicating that they would deal with that business before addressing Harry's personal financial statements without any other parties present.

Harry understood and readily agreed.

"Now, gentlemen, what can I do for you this day? It is most unusual to find a Potter and a Malfoy in company together," commented the bank director, "particularly when they seem to be in an agreeable mood."

Harry smiled, but Draco remained passive in his emotions at this point, feeling uncomfortable in dealing with the goblins.

"First of all, the two of us plan to be living in a muggle neighbourhood for the foreseeable future, possibly in a property own, if that were possible." Harry paused as he saw Ragnok making notes. "While we are there, we really would like to make it difficult for those in the magical world to find us, so we would like our owl post to be diverted here, and then have all mail that has been screened to remove cursed items, port keys, or tracking charms forwarded by the typical muggle mail system."

"We can arrange that, for a fee of course," commented Ragnok.

"Of course," muttered Draco, under his breath.

Ragnok barely cast him a glance and chose to ignore the comment.

"Also, we could use muggle identification, preferably with different names," continued Harry. "I was thinking perhaps using my middle name, and my second lordship title. Draco may prefer to use another name, one that sounds similar to his first name, but might be more common in the muggle world, and perhaps use the Black surname, as he is a Black on his mother's side, he could perhaps be my cousin."

Ragnok turned to face Draco. "Your thoughts, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I suppose that would work," he said without adding any of his usual arrogance. "Is there a muggle name that either one of you might suggest?"

"Andrew might work," suggested Harry.

Draco considered it for a minute, "I suppose it would do."

Ragnok then leafed through some of the paperwork that he had in Harry's portfolio. "How fancy of an apartment are you looking for? There is a penthouse overlooking the Thames, and then there is a two bedroom flat that sees quite spacious, in addition to a townhouse that one of the families owned. That doesn't even include 12 Grimmauld Place."

Harry shivered at the thought of the former headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix and the Black Ancestral home. He briefly wondered if Kreacher was even alive still. "Perhaps the two bedroom flat might be best, if it is in a muggle neighbourhood." After a moments thought, he then added, "Wait, do many wizards or witches know about this property?"

Ragnok reviewed the details. "Apparently it is owned by the Evans family, it is in a muggle neighbourhood, and was placed under a stasis charm after your parents died." The goblin looked back at Harry, "So I would gather that it is essentially unknown to the magical community."

"Sounds perfect then," replied Harry with a smile. "Can it be warded to protect it from magical detection, in case certain individuals or groups are trying to search for either Mr. Malfoy or myself?"

"That can be arranged," said Ragnok with another grin. "So, we have muggle identification for a Mr. James Black, and a Mr. Andrew Black. I would suggest adjusting the birth dates from 1980 to 1977, making you appear to be 21, it might make certain things a little easier for you, at times. Redirecting of owl post for Harry James Potter and Draco Lucius Malfoy. Warding of the flat to prevent magical detection and scrying. Any other services which we need to perform at this time?"

"There is one more thing, director," began Harry, however before he could finish, one of the goblins came into the office with a folder and handed it to Ragnok.

The director glanced at it momentarily and then turned to the two wizards. "Pardon the interruption, but it appears that Grimhide does indeed have the Malfoy accounts in order here."

"Accounts, sir?" asked Draco, sounding more polite than any other time that he addressed a goblin in his life.

Ragnok grinned. "Your father was truly a man of his house, Slytherin that is. He had set up several accounts. The ministry is after the only account that they know of. The one which was the general Malfoy family fund."

"Can they do that? Go after the family accounts?" questioned Harry.

"They think they can," replied Ragnok, "but then they have always thought they have power here which they do not. For instance they have been trying since the day your parents died to gain access to your own wealth, but we have been able to rebuff them. Even your former headmaster has tried to access the Potter vaults, claiming he had a right to them as your guardian, but again he was continually denied access."

Harry was about to comment, but Ragnok waved him silent as he continued to explain.

"We take our client's rights and riches seriously, Lord Potter-Black. If you cannot trust us with your valuables, then where would the economics of this world be? We would be facing another wizard-goblin war, the economic crisis would cause the world powers, even on the muggle side to spin out of control and bring financial ruin to every one. No, we will be sure to keep everything secure."

Draco was still surprised by the comment about his family having more than one vault, however. "Vaults, you said vaults. Why was there more than one Malfoy vault?"

Ragnok turned back to face Draco. "Your father had the usual family vault which was the one that was typically audited for most expenses. This is the vault that the Ministry of Magic is trying to claim in their legal action against him and your family. He used a separate vault from which he made the payments to the minister and other individuals in the ministry. He tried to keep these bribes hidden, but he never did a very good job in doing that. However, when he started the outright funding of the Death Eaters and Voldemort after the events of June 1995, the family finances started to take a major hit. That was when he started to divert funds from both of the original vaults to a third vault."

Draco was stunned. "Do I have access to any or all of these vaults?"

Ragnok's grin grew wider. "As scion of house Malfoy, you would normally have access to all three vaults. However, the ministry has placed a restriction on all known vaults of Lucius Malfoy."

"Define known vaults," requested Harry.

"The ministry is only aware of the first vault that was bled dry by Tom Riddle and his followers," replied a still grinning Ragnok.

"And the other two vaults?" queried Draco.

"Those vaults have yet be discovered," said a still smiling Ragnok, "by the ministry that is. The existence of the vault that your father used to pay the bribes may soon come to light within the ministry. However, it will be quite some time before they have any access to what is or is not located within that vault. The third vault would be nearly impossible for the ministry to discover."

"I take it that this third vault is not empty," commented Draco.

"Hardly," stated Ragnok as he skimmed through the documents in front of him.

"What if Draco were to move the contents of those vaults into a fourth vault that were to be opened under a new name, such as Andrew Black? One would presume that such a vault would be out of the purview of the Ministry," suggested Harry.

"Then that vault would not be discoverable by the ministry," agreed Ragnok. "That is quite astute of you, Lord Potter-Black."

Draco looked at Harry and wondered why he was helping him in this.

Harry was able to ascertain some of Draco's thoughts. "Hey, I don't expect you to be slumming off of me all the time, and until you actually get a job and make your own money, I hope you have something to actually help make ends meet. Besides, with the way the ministry as treated me over the past seven years, I don't think I owe them any favours."

Harry then turned to Ragnok. "Why are you being so helpful with these vaults?"

Ragnok gave a goblin laugh, which actually sounded almost threatening to the two wizards. "An idle vault makes no profit for us."

Ragnok then reviewed the parchments one more time. "Draco Malfoy, the holding of the Malfoy family, as of this day, in the Family Vault, are 300 sickle, 45 knuts. In the Malfoy secondary vault, which your father primarily used for bribes and at times supporting the Dark Lord, is 1,245 galleons, 275 sickles, and 1,237 knuts. In the third vault, is 247,353 galleons, 4,274 sickle, 125 knuts and numerous family items. There is also your trust vault which currently holds 125,000 galleons."

Draco was surprised to hear how much was there, but then he considered how much money his father must have squandered over the years. "How much can I place into a new vault?"

"You may place all of the amount from your trust vault, of course," explained Ragnok. "You probably could take everything out of the other vaults. Your father may not have the chance to see those vaults again, as the ministry is unlikely to let him off easy, even if your new friend here were to testify on his behalf and request clemency or express that he did something extraordinary that needs to be taken into account. Your mother, well, what becomes of her is something that is not clear. What exactly her involvement in the war is still a mystery, at least to us. If she is not imprisoned, she may be expecting that there would be family funds to support her."

Draco sighed, wondering what he should do. Harry turned to him, "There will be a way to make sure she is taken care of, after all, she is still a Black."

Draco took a deep breath then he turned to Ragnok. "Leave 30 sickle in the main vault. Leave 100 galleons in the secondary vault. Leave nothing in the third vault. Leave nothing in my trust vault. Put everything else in a new vault, under the name Andrew Black."

Harry smiled as Draco made a hard but strong decision.

"It shall be done as you have said," said Ragnok, making note of everything on the parchment in front of him. Then he turned back to Harry, "You stated you had additional concerns for us."

Harry felt a little uneasy about this, as he had not spoken to Draco about this. "As it is, I owe certain parties a favour, for something that was done for me this past spring. Draco had the opportunity to betray me to his Aunt Bellatrix, but for reasons known only to him, he did not do so at that time. I am also aware of a certain mark that the Malfoy scion may have acquired, a mark that may be a cause for much consternation going forward."

Draco started to rub his left forearm as Harry referenced his Dark Mark.

"My understanding is that such a magical branding is considered permanent," continued Harry, "but I am aware that over time the marks were fading on Riddle's followers and only started to reappear when he was about to be resurrected. Would the goblin healers have a way to permanently remove the mark, even considering that with Riddle having been finally vanquished and his soul destroyed the mark should fade, there would be remnants of the mark remaining on those who received the offensive magical tattoo?"

Ragnok considered the request. "It would be possible that we have a ritual that should be able to completely remove the stain. I must warn you now, that such a procedure would most likely be quite painful."

Draco looked back and forth between Harry and Ragnok. He truly regretted his decision to take the Mark. "I'll do it, I'll suffer the pain if it means removing this foul mark forever."

Ragnok then called for another goblin. "Mr. Malfoy, or should I say, Mr. Black, follow young Scourgeblade, and he will take you to the ritual chambers. When your arm is cleansed he will return you here. I do believe that Lord-Potter Black have concluded his business by that time, and we should have your new identification by then, and you vault keys should all be in order."

Draco bowed his head slightly as he thanked Ragnok and then he thanked Harry. Then the young goblin grumbled at him to keep up as they had preparations to get to in order to accomplish the ritual.

Ragnok bent over and pulled up a large portfolio which made a resounding thud as he placed it on his desk. Looking up at Harry he stated, "This is your financial data."

"We're going to go through that in detail?" Harry asked.

"We could, however I figured it would be best to just summarise," he added with a grin, and then he pulled out a large parchment.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief at not needing to go through the large portfolio.

"You have family vaults for each of the families we informed you about yesterday, whether you be Lord or simply head of house. In addition to that you have your trust vault, and several families had secondary vaults." Ragnok paused in his explanations to make sure Harry was following him. "Now, each of the families have some valuables, heirlooms, or other possessions in their vaults as well. We are still in the process of cataloguing all of those. We will have to arrange separate meetings for those summaries, and it may require a separate meeting for each house, at least for the Potter vaults and the Black Vaults. It may prove feasible that some of the other houses may be able to be combines when reviewing the non monetary contents. It is also apparent that most of the houses have properties attached to them. The apartment you plan to move into being one of them. A full reckoning of your real estate will also take some time, and we will notify you when that accounting is ready to take place. Once the real estate is established, then there is the issue of the magical creatures."

Ragnok noted the puzzled look on Harry's face. "This refers primarily to house elves. Ownership of house elves is sometimes affiliated with the properties, but is usually affiliated with the family. If the house elves are unsure of who their master is, their magic may start to wane. It is imperative for their health and well being that any surviving house elves in these families or properties which you now own be made aware that you are their master so that their magic may begin to prosper immediately. It will also help with the upkeep and repairs of any properties that may have begun to fall into disrepair."

Harry quietly muttered to himself that he hoped Hermione never found out about this.

"So, back to the bottom line for the financials, Lord Potter-Black," stated Ragnok, getting Harry's attention once again. "From House Peverell Vaults, you have 1,234,421 galleons. From House Lestrange Vaults, after ministry imposed fines for their various crimes, you have 45,217 galleons. From House Gaunt vaults, you have 17 galleons. From House Slytherin Vaults, you have 23,732,141 galleons. From House Black vaults, you have 12,517,839 galleons. From House Potter vaults, you have 3,842,179 galleons. Minus the fines of 717,668 galleons assessed yesterday, and the fees today of 2,345 galleons for services, your net worth based solely on galleons at hand 40,651,801 galleons."

Harry sat back and felt a little stunned. Then he looked back at Ragnok. "Before you ask," added the Goblin, "the Riddle vault was completely empty."

Harry nodded in understanding.

Ragnok then continued. "We can have the apartment fully warded within two days, and the owl post and mail forwarding will be able to be arranged by then as well."

Harry was grateful that things were working out so smoothly so far.

A minute later a goblin brought in an envelope and handed it to Ragnok. After examining the contents the director spoke to Harry and informed him that the IDs were all in order for both him and Draco. Almost as if on cue, Draco was led back into the room and he was gently rubbing his left arm. Harry could see that he had been sweating as his hair was slightly matted down and his eyes seemed a little red.

"How did it go?" he asked his one time nemesis.

"We're good," replied the blonde, "it's all good now."

Harry could tell there was still some residual pain, but he let it slide.

Ragnok handed the new ID to Draco. "You should be able to move into the apartment by this weekend," stated the bank director. "The wards will be in place. In fact, you will be able to use magic within the apartment and the ministry will never know."

Harry thanked Ragnok for everything and then the two wizards prepared to leave. As they made their way to the apparition point in Diagon Alley, Harry explained to Draco that he would be able to move to the flat after the funeral for Fred Weasley. Draco simply nodded in understanding.

Once they had arrived back at Hogwarts Draco did make one comment to Harry before they parted ways. "It was actually quite surprising, and most impressive the ways you found to protect the apartment from magical detection."

"I do try," Harry answered with a smirk. "And despite your comments to me repeatedly over the years, I do know some things about magic, and about avoiding detection."

"I never doubted your ability to avoid accountability," laughed Draco, "you seemed to become quite proficient in that over the years."

Harry let the jab go. "I will be needing to attend a funeral with the Weasleys, so we will probably move to the apartment after it is ready this weekend, when Ragnok lets me know it is ready. Then I can begin your education about muggle society and how to blend in. Your pureblooded fanaticism which you learned from your father will only get you ostracised and make it easy for any Death Eaters looking for you to try and track you down. I'll be back here at Hogwarts after the funeral. I presume you'll be staying here."

"It's about the only safe place for me to be," said Draco.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**Thursday, May 7**

Harry arrived at the Burrow in the morning, having received a message from Ron to come by before the funeral was to be held on Friday. Harry was actually relieved to be able to spend some time with them before his planned departure from the magical world as he had been so close to them for many years. Most of those attending the funeral would be arriving just before the planned service. Harry knew that Hermione was already there. Harry apparated just outside of the wards and walked up to the Burrow. He didn't expect any special welcoming party, and he was not surprised that no one was outside as he walked up to the old house. He briefly reminisced about all of the times he had spent here, and he was particularly thankful that the home was not significantly damaged during the Death Eater attack that interrupted Bill and Fleur's wedding last summer.

Arriving at the house he knocked on the door and let himself into the large family room. Immediately he was greeted by everyone who was there, essentially the entire Weasley clan. Harry wasn't sure who spoke but one of the Weasleys asked him quite clearly what his plans were for the summer, and then there was similar questions about what he was going to be doing now that he and defeated the Dark Lord.

Harry was clearly uncomfortable with the question and was truing to avoid and direct answer, giving vague replies about not sure what he really wanted to do now, and just being grateful that the war is over and sad that so many had to lose their lives in the process.

Hermione was irritated with his vague replied. "Go on Harry, why don't you just admit it. You and Malfoy are heading off to do something this summer."

There was a stunned silence in the room in response to her words. Then everyone turned and looked at Harry.

The silence was broken when Ron turned red in the face as he began to bluster. "You and Malfoy? But he's a worthless Slytherin! We were captured and brought to his manor where Hermione was tortured and they planned to turn you over to Snake face himself! You can't ever trust a slimy Slytherin! He's liable to turn on you to get revenge for your defeating his Dark Lord!"

Harry shook his head as he listened to Ron spout his drivel, but he did notice Ginny quietly slip out of the room.

Molly Weasley was just speechless at the news, and she was about to start her own rant against Draco. It was clear to very one in the room that she was getting worked up but Arthur walked over and quieted her before she managed to get more than a few series of words out screaming about that "horrid boy" and "good for nothing father" and "apple not falling far from the tree" and "Harry how could you dear."

"Hush dear, Harry is an adult now," began Arthur in a calming tone, "I would like to think that the man, the wizard, who defeated the Dark Lord, that he is able to make such a simple decision as to what he is going to do for the rest of his life, or at least for the rest of his summer."

George then spoke up in Harry's defence. "If our little Harrikins can take care of the Dark Tosser, than little Draco Malfoy should be a walk in the park."

Bill added his support, "I don't know that he's got planned, but I do know that Harry managed to break into Gringotts bank, steal an artefact, defeat Voldemort, and then he met with the goblins and they essentially acquitted him of all the major charges. My understanding is that the final charges ended up with what would be considered only minor fines compared to the original penalties, so I wouldn't worry about our Harry."

Harry meanwhile had walked off towards the pond by himself while everyone was debating his plans for the summer without any real knowledge of they truly were. Ginny had managed to make her own get away from her family, and she found him standing by the pond. "I heard what my family has said about what you're doing."

Her words did not startle him as he had heard her walking towards him. Harry did turn and looked at her as he waited for her to say something more.

She took a step closer to him and then she slapped him

"I thought you cared about me," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I do Gin," he replied, ignoring the sting on his face. "I love you as a friend, as a sister."

"I thought we were more than that," she added with an obvious pout, "but bloody hell, even a brother wouldn't treat a sister like this. Ron treats me better than this!"

Harry looked at her with a little amazement at her rant. "What are you on about?"

"Malfoy. Fucking Malfoy!" Ginny's voice was getting louder. "His father slipped that diary into my things when I was about to start school, or don't you remember, or don't you care? Or was that just another step to creating the legend that is Harry fucking Potter?"

"I will not hold Draco accountable for his father's sins," replied Harry softly, trying to calm down the tensions. "Should I be held accountable for my father's sins? If so, then the way Snape treated me for my entire time at Hogwarts might be justifiable. Draco saved my life about a month ago. His mother saved my life a few days ago. Draco asked me a favour. Two life debts being exchanged for one simple favour. Frankly, I consider that a fairly even trade. I'd call it a wash."

Ginny glared at him. "Is that all I am to you, a sister now?"

"You're a friend, a very good friend," said Harry searching his feelings as he answered her. "I don't know anymore than that. The past year was very hard on me, on everyone. I had many nights where I was alone and cold. I talked to Hermione a lot about things. I figured a few things out. One is that I'm complete rubbish when it comes to dealing with girls. Two, is that I'm not sure I'm really ready for more than being friends with you Ginny. Not really. You're great and all, you're fantastic with magic, you're amazing on a broom, and Merlin knows you're beautiful, but I just don't feel right when we're together intimately."

Ginny put her hands to her face and started to cry. "But we were meant to be together. I read all your books. My mum promised me you would take me away just like in the stories. Then you saved me from the chamber. That proved the books were true, the stories were true."

"But you kept dating all of those other guys," said Harry. "That sure doesn't seem to me like you thought we were meant to be together."

"I had to do something while you were too busy doing who knows what and you were too thick to figure out that you belong with me," she replied defensively. "Everyone says you look just like your dad and I look just like your mum. We belong together Harry!"

Harry started to back away. "That's not a good reason to be together, Ginny."

"We could find other reasons to be together," she pleaded. "We worked well together at the department of mysteries."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're a great witch, and we work together well as a team, but I just don't think we make a good couple."

Ginny tried to be brave and fought back tears but then she turned and ran back into the house.

Harry watched her for a moment. "I suppose that could have gone worse," he said to himself. Then he sat down by the pond and idly tossed pebbles into the water, watching the ripples as they spread out across the water. After several minutes he could hear the soft footsteps of someone approaching from behind, Harry didn't look up as he continued to toss pebbles. "So, I suppose you have come to scold me for my supposed harsh treatment of Ginny now, haven't you Hermione."

"No Harry, I've come to see if you're coming in for dinner," replied Hermione. "Wait, how did you know it was me?"

"I could tell by your footsteps," he said with a grin that she couldn't see as she was still behind him. "Besides, if it was Ron, he probably would have been screaming at me or hexing me. George wouldn't have bothered to come out, Molly would have been in a tirade about how I somehow was rude to Ginny by calmly telling her how I really felt, and Arthur wouldn't have taken the time to come out as he would have let me be. Bill and Charlie don't know me well enough to come out here, and Percy would have been a prat and would have already started on some lecture about proper behaviour. So, either by way of natural deduction you are the only left to come out here or I could tell just by the sound of your foot steps. Or both."

"What did you say to the poor girl?" asked Hermione. "She was your friend. You didn't have to hurt her feelings."

Harry held back is tongue from lashing out at Hermione for her comment about his summer plans. He never turned to face her even as she sat down beside him. "You know exactly what I told her. You heard me go over the whole thing while we were in the tent, my thoughts about her. You even predicted her every retort." Harry turned to look at Hermione, "I wonder how you managed to do that, but I figured it has something to do with two women and time spent together and things like that."

Hermione leaned in to Harry's shoulder. They sat there in silence for several minutes. "So, you're really helping out Malfoy."

"I figure he's pretty much a lost cause without some kind of major assistance, and he did ask nice."

Hermione remained silent.

"Besides, he doesn't have his two goons anymore," continued Harry. "Goyle's family seems to have disappeared and we know what happened to Crabbe. And Draco indicated to me that the remaining Death Eaters that haven't been captured yet have a vendetta against him and his family."

Another long silence engulfed the two. Eventually it was broken when Harry gently asked Hermione, "So when do you leave for Australia?"

"I asked Ron if he would come with me," she stated, and Harry could hear the sadness in her voice. "He indicated he has more important things to do."

Harry looked around, "Yeah, like degnome the garden. Again. That will be keeping him busy for quite some time."

That finally got a laugh from Hermione.

"I'm leaving the day after tomorrow," she finally said.

Harry didn't respond.

Then she asked, "How will I find you when I get back?"

"Gringotts will be able forward my mail," he answered noncommittally.

"That's not what I meant," she stated.

"I don't even know yet where I will be," he answered truthfully. "Right now, I just want to be away from the magical world."

Hermione was surprised by his answer. She knew he had said he was planning to move to the muggle world, but the conviction in his statement surprised him. "Why would you ever say that?"

"Why wouldn't I? Think about what they have done to me," he began to explain. "They placed me with my aunt and uncle. Kept my godfather away from me by putting him in Azkaban without a trial. They put me through all of the ridiculousness at Hogwarts: Quirrel being possessed and trying to kill me, repeatedly; putting up with all of the accusations from every one of supposedly being the Heir of Slytherin. Dumbledore keeping secrets from me, like forever. In third year having to deal with the dementors attacking me repeatedly. Being entered into the tournament against my will and being forced to compete just so I could be used to resurrect Voldemort, and nearly getting killed, only to get branded a liar and a lunatic and then have the ministry create a smear campaign, try to have my wand snapped and then torture me throughout fifth year. Oh, and then in fifth year, what a year to remember, in addition to the torture and the smear campaign, there was the abuse by Snape, the set up by Voldemort, leading you all foolishly into a trap that could have seen you all killed, but which ended up killing Sirius. Once again facing Voldemort and being subjected to more torture. Then finally hearing the prophecy that Dumbledore hid from me for all my life, claiming it was for my protection. Once again he interfered and separated me from my only friends for most of the summer. Then sixth year wasn't so bad, at least I started to learn the truth about Tom Riddle, but Dumbledore wouldn't tell me everything, and he ended up getting cursed and then killed. Then the war started in earnest and we had to go on the run for our lives. It's not like we really had any fun this past year, trying to decipher the vague clues that were left, nearly getting caught multiple times. It is actually quite amazing any of us survived. We didn't have much help from the people we were trying to save, who hate you because your parents don't have magic, who hate me because my mum came from parents who didn't have magic, but these people who hate us and our families were too weak to stop Riddle. They were happy to sit back and let people die and let others fight this war for them. So, why would I want to get away from a world that would treat me like this, you ask? I ask you, why should I want to stay?"

Hermione had tears in her eyes as she listened to Harry recount their story. It wasn't just his story, they both knew that. He made some very valid points. After a few minutes of silent tears, she finally spoke up. "Oh Harry, you can't stay away from magic forever."

"I never said I was going away forever. I only said I was going away for a little while," he said softly. "Draco needs a place to hide for a little while, he needs some protection from the Death Eaters who are still loose. What's a few months away in payment for a life? I can return anytime I want. Who knows when it will be safe for him to return. Maybe Draco will discover that the muggle world isn't so bad after all."

Hermione laughed at that idea.

"Stranger things have happened," laughed Harry.

"Name one," argued Hermione.

"You started to date Ron," countered Harry.

"You prat," she said as she punched him in the arm. "But it does prove one thing."

"What? That you dating Ron is strange?" quipped Harry.

"Not that," replied Hermione, "your helping Draco. Your saving people thing, it even works for Slytherins."


	3. Chapter 3 - Moving to London

**Moving to London**

* * *

Harry was relieved to have the funerals behind him. The interim Ministry of Magic was trying to help their society recover and move on, and Harry knew that this was the time for him to take a step in moving on by moving away. It was clear that there was no way he would ever return to Privet Drive, and he really didn't care what ever became of the Dursleys. The goblins had already completed the ward schemes that Harry had ordered.

One week after visiting with the Weasley family, Harry was settling into his apartment under the name of James Black. Draco was staring at his muggle ID with the name of Andrew Black, trying to get used to the name.

Sitting in the middle of the large couch he looked back at Harry, "So, why do we have to have an apartment up here on the third floor? There are so many bloody stairs!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Stop your complaining _Andrew._ This is considered a very nice flat. The view from our balcony is quite nice, looking out over the River Thames. Besides, it's not like you had to carry anything up here in the first place, considering the goblins or Kreacher brought everything here for us."

Harry leaned back in the chair he was reclining in as he looked around their flat. "So, have you thought about the options for work yet?"

Draco sneered as he looked at the newspaper. "It all seems dreadful. Malfoys weren't meant to work like this!"

Harry laughed at him. "You said you wanted my help, you said you wanted to hide from the Death Eaters. So quit whining. You need to forget everything you learned growing up. You are no longer the pampered prince, you are no longer a Malfoy. You still might be a spoiled Black, but we need to figure something out."

Draco shook his head, wondering how much he would regret his request of Harry. "So, we can't bloody well use our magic here can we? So what kind of jobs can we get then?" Draco was flipping through the jobs section of the paper. "What's a shot order cook then?"

Harry laughed again. "I don't think you want to do that."

"How about a valet?"

Harry asked with a smirk, "Do you even know how to drive a car?"

"I could learn," snapped Draco.

"It's not as easy as flying a broom," quipped Harry. "Anything else there?"

"Secretaries, personal assistants," continued Draco.

"I really don't think that's the kind of job you're looking for," Harry replied, "and it's not like anything you learned at Hogwarts would prepare you for any of those jobs."

Draco tossed the paper onto the small table in front of him. "Is there anything that we learned at Hogwarts that would be useful in the muggle world, considering we can't use our magic here? No silly wand waving, as Snape would say."

"That's brilliant!" said Harry sitting up straighter.

Draco stared at Harry with a blank look. "Of course I'm brilliant, you should have learned that long ago, but what exactly is your point?"

"No, potions, that's the connection," said Harry.

Draco now looked confused. "I didn't think the muggles used potions, so what good will that do us."

"No, but mixing potions is a little more complicated than mixing drinks. You, or we, could maybe get jobs as bartenders," exclaimed Harry.

"What? Do you mean work at a pub? Like the Leaky Cauldron? Do such a menial job?" Draco was beside himself as he thought about it.

"Not sure that we would work at something quite like the Leaky Cauldron," said Harry thoughtfully, "but there are some upscale bars. We probably can't start at the top, but we could take a class on bar tending, get a job, work our way up. There are some classy places we can work. Maybe even meet some nice girls."

Draco started to pay more attention now. "This sounds like it has possibilities."

"Definite possibilities," agreed Harry.

* * *

The bar tending class only took two days, and then they arranged for a couple of interviews at nearby clubs that were looking to hire. In the mean time, Harry was working on teaching his "cousin" about the local community and about the habits of people in the city. Draco rather enjoyed the convenience of nearby places to buy food, but Harry had tried to explain that eating out all the time was both expensive and also tended to be less healthy. No longer having the luxury of house elves to wait on him constantly was forcing him to learn to do tasks which he used to consider beneath him, but as he was getting used to living on his own like this, Harry had even been teaching him how to cook. Draco was initially quite surprised that Harry was so talented in the kitchen, although he refused to tell him just how he had learned to cook so well.

It didn't take long before they had found work as bartenders, although the place that hired them only needed one full time bartender and one part-time bartender, which suited Harry just fine. Draco (or Andrew) took the full time position, while Harry 'settled' for only working part-time and accepting less shifts. As the two of them met the staff and other muggles they explained that they had been off to boarding school and travelled but now they had returned to England. There was a vague story of a tragedy to their families that neither was willing to talk about which kept questions to a minimum about their background. With Draco's experience in potion making it didn't take long for him to become quite adept at mixing drinks. In fact, both he and Harry seemed to have a certain flare for it and were soon becoming quite popular at the bar they were working at, easily making a fair wage in tips and becoming popular with customers and the other staff as well.

* * *

Sunlight streamed in through the window and woke Draco early one morning. He lay in his bed and considered for a moment where he was, and realising that he was not ensconced in the opulence of Malfoy Manor did not bother him. In fact, Draco was surprised that he could actually enjoy himself at all while living among muggles was almost disconcerting in and of itself. But when he considered that he was doing something that he was raised with the idea he would never have to do: that he had a job and actually had to work, and he was actually enjoying it, this idea was also catching him off guard.

But then again, he told himself the past several years had been filled with several things that he never expected. As he lay there in bed he ran many of those thoughts through his mind. The darkest wizard in generations had essentially taken over his family's home and then forced him to join his ranks. Draco had initially thought that he wanted to do join, that the power and prestige that it would bring would be great. That was until he learned what it truly meant. Hurting those muggle girls that had been kidnapped and brought into the dungeons under the Malfoy Manor was not something he had ever expected was something he would have to do. He justified the deeds he had to do with them by telling himself that if he didn't do those things then the other Death Eaters would. He still couldn't admit to himself exactly what he had done for he was too embarrassed that he had actually committed those acts on another person, even if they were only muggles. That excuse now haunted his dreams and just thinking about it made him ill. Then to prove himself further to the Dark Lord at the end of that summer, he was told he had to kill Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster. He never particularly liked the man, but he realised over the course of the year that the "old fool" as he had been so used to referring to him, seemed to go about as easy on him when it came to meting out punishments as he had been on Potter. Then at the end of 6th year, when he had Dumbledore in front of him, an easy target, all he was able to do was cast a simple disarming spell, nothing more. At the time Draco chastised himself for doing nothing more than pulling a "Harry Potter" move as he watched his own godfather, Severus Snape actually kill Albus Dumbledore with the killing curse. He spent that night, unable to sleep, wondering if he hated Snape for actually killing someone who was already disarmed, or admiring him for having the strength of character to do what he could not. Then the war came for real, the Dark Lord's people overthrew the ministry, Snape became the new Headmaster and Draco was set to truly run things at Hogwarts. But his seventh year at school was not what he expected. The sick and twisted Carrow twins showed up, teaching those who wanted to learn how to torture the other students. Oh, yes, he had power, he was a leader of sorts, but he still had that sick feeling in his stomach. That feeling which he had to hide from everyone. And Potter was on the run. Draco was able to bluster throughout the year how Potter was afraid, how he would personally defeat Potter and hand him over to the Dark Lord once he found that half-blood traitor. But deep inside he knew he was scared as hell if he ever saw Potter again. He was sure Potter saw what happened that night at the top of the astronomy tower when he didn't have the stomach to kill Dumbledore, because he knew that Potter was there and chased Snape across the fields of Hogwarts when they all made their escape. And an angry Potter scared him more than Voldemort did during seventh year, but Draco knew he needed to hide that from everyone.

Then the unthinkable happened. Draco was home one weekend in spring, and snatchers arrived and claimed they had caught Potter and the Mud-Blood. He couldn't deny that it was Granger. She scared him ever since she had the gall to punch him back in third year, but to save face he had to continue to bluster in front of his friends. He knew she was a brilliant and talented witch, but for appearances he couldn't back down so he continued to taunt her every chance he could for the remainder of their school years together. But then he saw Potter. His face was swollen, he presumed it must have been Granger who cast a stinging hex on him from point bank range to hide his identity and his tell tale scar, but the scar was still vaguely visible. When his aunt asked him to identify him as Potter, he knew if he did, and if the Dark Lord came, Potter would never forgive him. If Potter won the war, then he, Draco was a dead man. And he wasn't stupid. Potter didn't lose at the end of fifth year in the ministry halls; he didn't lose at the end of fourth year when the Dark Lord came back; he didn't lose at the end of second year in the Chamber of Secrets; he didn't lose at the of first year when he faced Professor Quirrel; he didn't lose when he was one year old. So Draco knew Potter was not about to lose even if the Dark Lord confronted him in Malfoy Manor. There was no way Draco was about to give Potter up to the Dark Lord, not this easily, he told himself back then. He'd rather face the wrath of his Aunt Bellatrix than a pissed off Potter, and that was saying something he admitted.

Shaking himself from his memories he got out of bed and sat up and looked out of his window and across the city of London. He took a deep breath and sat back down in a chair in his room, contemplating all of the things that lead to him actually confront Potter after the war, daring to claim that Potter owed him a favour, especially when the more he thought about it, he was scared of Potter, the young man who was considered his nemesis for most of the past seven years, he was actually glad he had managed to pull this off. He felt that he might actually be safe from the Death Eaters who would want revenge on him for his betrayal of the Dark Lord and his followers. And still, the thing that was the most surprising, he was actually enjoying his time among these muggles. He wondered quietly,"What would father think?"

Finally pulling himself out of his thoughts he realised he was hearing some unusual noises coming from the main room. Draco quickly pulled on some clothes and went to go investigate. Before he opened the door to his bedroom, he answered his own question with another one, "Who cares?"

"What the hell is that?" asked a surprised Draco as he stepped into the main room of the flat.

"A television," came the simple response from Harry who did not look away.

"I know what a television is, they have one in the bar," Draco said annoyed, "and the blokes all want to watch the football games."

"Yeah, that they do," said Harry, concentrating on what was happening on the screen.

Draco was looking back and forth at the screen and at Harry. "But what are you doing?"

"Oh, this, this is a video game," explained Harry, "its called a Playstation. It's like the newest thing."

Draco realised that Harry was holding something in his hand connected by a thin wire to a small box. Apparently that was how he was controlling what was happening on the screen. Draco sat down and watched for a while.

"This isn't magic?"

Harry laughed, "No, its muggle technology. There's another handset. You can play too."

The rest of the morning was spent with the two of them ensconced in front of the TV trying the few games that Harry had picked up when he had bought the TV and the Playstation setup.

* * *

Harry had been spending some of his days when he wasn't working or playing on his Playstation just wandering the streets of London. One such day he realised he had ended up near Charing Cross Road. He slowed his pace as he came closer to the entrance to the magical world that had been so important to him for so many years. Then he spotted a woman who was standing on the side of the road, staring at an old broken down store next to an old bookshop and a record story. Quickly Harry recognised that this was Susan Bones, a strawberry blonde witch who was in his class at Hogwarts. He also realised that she did not see him walking up from behind her.

"You know, you can go back, anytime you want to," Harry said softly, standing behind the red headed young woman.

Susan Bones was startled as she had not heard anyone walk up behind her. She spun around and stared at the man who had spoken to her and quickly she recognised that it was none other than the famous Harry Potter.

"My word, Harry," she said as she tried to catch her breath, "you gave me quite the surprise there."

"Sorry Susan, I didn't mean to startle you," he said with a smile. Then he continued, "I noticed you staring at the pub there. If you really miss it so, then why don't you go back?"

Susan Bones stared at Harry for a moment in silence before she finally asked him, "How do you know I haven't been there for a while?"

"If you had, you wouldn't have that dreamy look in your eyes as you stare at a door that all of these muggles just ignore," he explained. "If you had been visiting Diagon Alley and the magical side of things regularly since the end of the war, then you wouldn't be standing here, would you?"

"No, I guess you're right," she admitted. Then a realisation struck her. "Then why are you here, Potter?"

Harry smiled back at her, "Probably for similar reasons as you. But, maybe I was just taking a leisurely stroll through London on an otherwise beautiful day. I'd tell you more about my reasons, if you'd tell me yours, but perhaps it would be best to do it over lunch. My treat, if you'd let me," he added with a smile.

The two found a simple deli not far from where they were and quickly seated. Once they had ordered their meal, Susan began to tell Harry a little about why she was living in London. "It's been a long and lonely several years since Voldemort…"

Harry noticed how she had a hard time saying the name, but also how she refused to be afraid to speak the name nonetheless.

"Since that foul thing," she continued, "since he came back, and attacked. He had my aunt killed. I think you met her, she was the head of the DMLE and she stood in his way." She looked up at Harry. "She was rather impressed with you, even if you didn't know it, and I am sorry that I didn't do more to show you I believed you in school or that I supported you. I guess I let my friends' opinions prevent me from telling you what I really thought."

Harry could see the pain in her eyes. "Susan, it's okay, you were there in the DA, you worked hard, you never seemed to doubt me in the classes we had. And I'm not talking about second year, everyone seemed to doubt me way back then."

Susan looked down, "Oh my, that was Hannah who spoke out against you that year. I am so sorry, she's my best friend, and I don't know why she accused you of such things." Susan looked back up at Harry.

"Hey, we were young, it was a scary time, we didn't know any better," said Harry reassuringly.

"We all should have known better," protested Susan. "Dammit, I knew better! My parents died in the first war! I was a war orphan, just like you were! And how did you become an orphan? Everyone knows the story! You defeated him as a toddler. There was no excuse for anyone to think that you were the next Dark Lord. You saved us all, Harry Potter. You did it before any of us could remember."

Susan briefly paused in her rant to wipe her mouth with her napkin, before continuing, "Apparently you did it at the end of first year, and then we eventually learned you did it again at the end of second year. No one wanted to believe you survived battling him at the end of the fourth year because Fudge was incompetent, but my Aunt Amelia never doubted you. Then there was more proof you survived another encounter with him again fifth year. Then you finally beat him, once and for all they say, at the Battle of Hogwarts." Susan took a deep breath, as she couldn't believe she had just gone on such a tirade.

"I'm sorry Harry for rambling so," she added softly.

Harry reached out and took her hand, "No, Sue, it's okay, you don't need to apologise. Although I think everyone here is wondering what got you so upset, but I did silently cast a muffliato spell around us so they wouldn't hear what you were going on and on about."

Susan started to blush and covered her eyes with her hand. She was about to apologise again and Harry stopped her. "I said it's all right, don't try and apologise again."

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes before Harry spoke up, "I guess I never thought about the fact that we both lost our parents in the first war. Did you know that Tom Riddle was a half blood?"

"Excuse me," asked Susan, "but who is that?"

"Tom Riddle," stated Harry, "that's Voldemort's real name. He hated being called that. He made an anagram out of his name, Lord Voldemort was a made up name."

"Oh, that's right, you did tell us about that in the DA classes," she remembered, now feeling foolish that she had forgotten about that fact.

"He's the one who made us both orphans," said Harry, "and it is the war that he caused in combination with all of the pure blood bigotry that caused me to want to spend some time away from the magical world."

Susan smiled at his comments. "Why do I feel like you've read my mind? Those are the same reasons for me, well, that and needing some time away as I'm still mourning the loss of my aunt."

Harry smiled back at her, "Well, that is one thing we don't have in common."

Susan's face revealed her confusion. "What? You don't miss your parents?"

"Oh, I miss my parents," he said with a laugh at her question. "I barely remember a thing about them from when I was a baby. I have had a brief magical encounter with them that I really don't want to get into now, either. But what I meant is that I don't miss my aunt or my uncle. The muggles I grew up with."

Harry finished the last sentence with a clear distaste in his voice and looked down and avoided any eye contact with Susan.

She waited for a minute before she dared speak again. "I had heard rumours that you had a difficult time growing up."

There was another silent pause as Harry continued to stare at the empty plate in front of him.

"I was a Hufflepuff," Susan said, trying to sound cheerful, but not overly so, "we're known for being good friends. If you need an ear to listen, I think I could be a good one. But I won't pry." She looked down at her plate and felt like kicking herself as she quietly admonished herself, "That was lame Bones, no way is he going to talk to you now you stupid girl."

Harry looked up and noticed that she was now avoiding looking at him. He smiled slightly. "It's okay Sue, I've never really spoken of it to anyone, not even Hermione. She probably knows the most about it, but even she doesn't know the whole story. I doubt even Dumbledore knew the whole story, and he kept sending me back there every summer."

Susan looked at him and she could tell there was a pain in his eyes. She was about to say something and started to open her mouth.

Harry simply shook his head, "No, not now anyway, and definitely not here. Maybe someday, but I don't know. It's not something I have any plans on talking about. Ever."

There was a certain finality to his words that shocked Susan, but his words weren't harsh, just stating it as simply as if he were telling her the weather.

"So, you're here in the muggle world, all alone, and your fiends must think your crazy," said Harry, trying to pick up the conversation again.

Susan smiled again, "Hannah thinks I'm nutters. She doesn't understand why I need any time away from friends. She doesn't really understand me anymore."

Harry was nodding, "Ron's pretty much the same way."

"So you're here in the muggle world all alone too, then," commented Susan.

"I didn't say that," corrected Harry.

"Oh, you're here with Hermione," said Susan, who seemed to become a little sadder at the idea that Harry was with his near constant companion from school.

Harry laughed again. "No, I am not with Hermione." In the back of his mind he decided that this was going to be fun.

"Well, I know you're not here with Neville, since I know that Hannah has been having increased contact with him," she said thoughtfully, trying to figure out Harry's cryptic comment of not being all alone in the muggle world. "But you're not here on your own?"

"No, but I do have a roommate," said Harry, with a grin.

Susan was not quite puzzled. "One of the other blokes from your house?"

Harry laughed, "Actually, I'd be surprised if either one of those two would really want to have that much to do with me after everything. But you would never guess who my room-mate is, so there is really no point in trying to figure it out."

Susan sighed as she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, with a comment like that one might get the idea that you were staying with Malfoy of all people, but there would be no way he would live as a muggle, so go on, tell me who is it that you're living with."

Harry stared at her in surprise.

Susan looked back at him, "Stop staring, I'm tired of guessing." She waited another minute. "You're not being very nice, Harry."

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "You already discounted who it is," he said incredulously. Harry then got the attention of their waiter and paid their tab for the meal. Before Susan could say anything he took her hand, "Let's go find one of those London Double Decker Bus tours that the Americans think are so grand. We'll spend the afternoon taking in the sights, have someone showing us around a city that neither one of us knows nearly as well as we should, and we can learn more about each other."

"When are you going to answer my question though?" she asked, still irritated with him.

"I already told you, you answered it for yourself, you just don't know it," he said with a mischievous grin.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting on the top deck of a red tour bus, enjoying the light breeze and the sunny afternoon. As the tour was beginning, Susan finally realized what Harry had implied. "How could you have decided to move in with Draco?"

"He told me I owed him a favour," he said simply and looked off to where the tour guide indicated some fascinating bit of history that got many of the Americans to "ooh" and "awe" and snap lots of pictures.

Over the next several hours they saw a number of sights, including Piccadilly Circus, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. The bus ride continued on to take them by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, London Bridge and Big Ben and Parliament. Finally the two friends got off of the bus as Susan was going to have to head to work soon.

Susan looked at one of the brochures that they had picked up, "And to think they have another tour that takes you by all of the museums!"

Harry looked at the brochure, "Some of those museums look interesting. Even the zoo should be fun," he added, but silently thinking it would be a lot more fun going there without the Dursleys.

As they started to walk towards Susan's flat, Harry mentioned something he had recently read about in the local paper. "Did you hear what they said about building the largest ferris wheel in the world here next year?"

Susan had a puzzled look on her face. "What's a ferris wheel?"

Harry was surprised at her lack of understanding as he took Susan to be one of the few purebloods he knew to actually have a fair amount of knowledge of muggle ways. She did seem quite knowledgeable about London throughout the afternoon. He then tried to explain the concept of a ferris wheel, and then other amusement park rides to Susan, and he even suggested that at some time he would have to take her to an amusement park.

As they continued their short walk to her apartment, Harry realized that he really hadn't found that much out about what she was doing in London. "So, Susan, you said you wanted to get away from the magical world for a bit, but what are you doing her in London? Where are you working? I was surprised you haven't seen much of the city yet."

Susan sighed as she began her reply. "Hogwarts doesn't prepare you much for muggle life, so it isn't easy to find a job." She seemed to look away as she continued to answer. "I'm working as a waitress, mostly evening shifts, since it doesn't take a whole lot of skill."

Harry simply nodded in understanding as he walked along side of her, and she found his smile reassuring.

"I'm doing okay," she added, "and it was just brilliant that we ran into each other today. But what about you? What are you doing here, really?"

"Well, I already told you that I've been living with Malfoy, of all people," he began. "We've been working as bartenders, so my days are often free to do whatever. So, we could get together again someday, if you wanted to that is."

"Of course, I'm really glad you ran into me over by Diagon Alley," said Susan as she slowed down her pace the closer she got to her flat. "I think this has been the best day I've had since coming to London."

Harry smiled, "I'm glad. Just remember, you don't have to spend your afternoons or your mornings pining for magic. Either make up your mind and go back to visit, or drop me a line, or even swing by for a visit. We can hang out, go for a stroll in the park, whatever you want to do."

Susan returned the smile. "I guess I should have started hanging out with you earlier, back when we were in school."

Harry shook his head, "That may not have been a good idea, being near me back at school could be dangerous, as you may recall."

Susan nodded, "Well, there is that. You definitely attracted more than your fair share of crap." They both laughed at her comment.

"It has been fun," he repeated.

"Well, it looks like we're here," she said.

She opened the door to her flat and Harry waited while she got ready to go to work. He wrote down his address for his apartment, in case she decided to drop by some time. When Susan was ready for work, Harry offered to walk her to the restaurant before he returned home to his own flat. Once they arrived, she thanked him again for the enjoyable day. "We really should get together again," she said.

"Perhaps we should meet up at the zoo next week, or go to one of the parks," he suggested.

"Sounds great," she agreed.

Harry walked with her to the restaurant where she worked and gave a simple hug as he said goodnight. He didn't notice her frustration with him as he turned to leave and she waved goodnight to him.

Harry arrived back at his flat and looked at the mail that he had received. A couple of bills, which he tossed aside. He knew that the accounts were set up so that they would be automatically paid through his accounts at Gringotts. Then he noticed he had a letter, and it had some unusual stamps on it. It was clear it was from Hermione, and she had sent it from Australia. Quickly he opened it and read the note. He was happy to read that she had found her parents and that they were doing well. She expected to return home with them within the next couple of weeks. Harry was happy for her that her trip had been successful.

He then sat down and wrote a quick letter back to her. He was grateful that she included a return address so he knew where to send it too, although he did realise it was much simpler in the magical world when he could just tell Hedwig to take an envelope directly to the person he was sending it to.

Harry was letting her know that he was enjoying his time so far in London. That they had found a flat, and that they had settled in quite well so far. He was really happy that she had been able to find her parents and restore their memories. He was looking forward to seeing her when she returned to England. Harry decided not to mention too many other details, particularly if anyone in the magical world managed to intercept his letter to her in order to keep things safe and quiet.

* * *

Harry and Susan get together a few days later and spent the afternoon at Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. They both enjoyed the time to leisurely stroll through the park, watching children run around and play. Susan wanted to feed the swans in the Serpentine, but Harry didn't that would be a good idea. When they saw some teens playing with an object they were throwing around in an open area in Hyde Park, Susan wondered what they were doing. Harry remembered seeing children playing with a frisbee when he was in school when he was younger, and he tried to explain it to her. After they strolled through the gardens for a couple of hours they returned to the Serpentine and rented a paddle boat for a little while.

All in all it was an enjoyable afternoon for the two of them. After Harry dropped Susan off at her flat and was making they made plans to get together to go to the London Zoo the next week. While making his way back home Harry was considering how things were working out for him with his plans stay away from the magical world. Sure, he had run into Susan, but as it turned out they did have a lot in common, being orphaned during the war. He had felt so comfortable around her, the relationship reminded him of his friendship with Hermione, without the constant reminders about doing homework or the questioning of his actions. Yes, he definitely was glad that he had a friend like Susan to spend time with, to talk about their experiences growing up and everything. He even had become comfortable enough to tell her about some of his experiences at the Dursleys, and that was something he never spoke to anyone about. Plus, he had a muggle job, not that he needed one at all, after he had learned from the goblins about all of the money he had. Once he found out about the money his family actually had, no wonder the pureblood witches and wizards looked at him funny back at school.

As he walked along the sidewalk, he bumped into someone, and they both apologised to each other. The politeness which some people treated each other was refreshing to Harry, compared to the many experiences which he had growing up both at Privet Drive and then at Hogwarts. Finally reaching his apartment and sitting down and turning on the television to sit back and watch some football, he realized he was happy, he was able to relax, and he had friends. He no longer had nightmares. He was enjoying life. Life was good for Harry Potter, and right now, that life was not revolving around magic. That last thought caught him by surprise.

* * *

One week later, Harry and Susan were meeting in front of the London Zoo. Susan had read muggle stories that described non magical animals, but she realized she knew more about magical and mythical beasts than the types of animals that muggles would have in this zoo, even if these animals weren't normally found anywhere near England. Once Harry paid their admission and they stepped inside they looked over the map and the brochures to plan out which exhibits they would go to first.

The first big exhibit they came to was the Komodo dragons. Both Susan and Harry found it odd that they were called dragons as they didn't look anything like the beasts which were used in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Harry even commented that they were not very impressive after having faced down a Hungarian Horntail and ridden on Ukrainian Ironbelly.

Susan turned and stared at him. "Now mister, I know you faced the horntail. We all saw you do it during the horntail. But you actually rode on an Ironbelly? Even considering it's the great Harry Potter, I'm finding that a little hard to believe."

Harry smiled at her comment. "Well, technically, it was Hermione, Ron and I who rode on the Ironbelly together, as we made our escape from Gringotts."

Susan's eyes grew bigger at that comment.

"I probably shouldn't say anything more," Harry added, "the goblins don't want it being discussed. But I did pay the fines already, and I managed to be exonerated for what was considered the worst of the purported crimes surrounding the incident."

Susan glared at him, "How can you leave me hanging like that?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, "Simple, an oath to the goblins. You wouldn't want me struck down or cursed by a goblin now, would you?"

She crossed her arms in front of her and sighed, "I supposed not."

They then made their way over to the gorilla display. They arrived just in time to see the large animals being fed. As thy were grabbing fruit and vegetables and shoving it into their mouths they both had a similar idea.

Harry turned to Susan as he said, "Well, even some animals have better table manners than Ron."

Susan giggled and blushed as she replied, "How did you know I was thinking the same thing?"

As the gorillas weren't interested in much else besides their food at this time they made their way to another exhibit. Susan saw a sign that pointed to the reptile house. Harry froze in his tracks. "I don't think that would be a good idea," he said quietly.

Susan initially whined, "Oh, it might be fun."

Harry didn't change his mind. "No, I'd rather not."

Susan didn't notice how serious he was in his refusal at first. "But you could speak to the snakes," she pleaded.

Harry tried to be gentle in his comments to her. "What would everyone think if I started hissing at the snakes? Besides I had an unpleasant experience there once, before I even knew I was a wizard, it was the first time I ever spoke to a snake." He thought back to the time he came here for Dudley's birthday not long before he received his letter for Hogwarts. "The snake was fine - I think the boa constrictor wanted to escape and try and find its way back to South America though. I actually performed some accidental magic. The glass disappeared to the boa's display, the snake escaped and my cousin fell into the display. I had no idea what happened, as I didn't know anything about magic, by my aunt an uncle blamed me for everything, and I was punished for it later."

Susan could hear the pain in his voice as Harry spoke of the event that occurred so long ago. She took him by the hand and led him in another direction. "Here, this way is the Asian otter display."

That comment definitely broke him out of his melancholy. Upon arriving at the new display they watched the family of otters frolicking in the water and around their habitat. Harry was quickly smiling as he watched them play.

Susan noticed his smile. "What is it? What brought that smile about so quick?"

Harry turned to face Susan. "They remind me of Hermione."

Susan frowned a little at the mention of Hermione.

Harry wasn't sure why the mention of his best friend would upset Susan, but he went on to explain. "Her patronus, it's an otter. And they're so playful, watching these little guys play reminds me of her patronus and how happy she was when she was finally able to cast it back in the DA classes." He turned back to watch them play some more.

Susan now understood a little better about what made Harry happy. His friends, and things that made his friends happy. She recalled how seeing his friends being successful in the DA classes really made him excited. She reached out and took his hand and squeezed it slightly, hoping he would know she was happy for him now, seeing how watching the otters was making him happy.

After a while, they moved on to the big cats display, where there were the Asian lions, the Sumatran tigers and the serval. As they came upon the Asiatic lions, Susan decided to have some fun teasing him. "This should be right up your alley, being a Gryffindor, you're all supposed to be lions," quipped Susan.

Harry chuckled a little at her comment, "Maybe they have a badger here somewhere at the zoo just for you, Susan."

Harry and Susan continued walking side by side having fun, making comments about the many different animals they saw at the other displays. The bright and colourful birds, the fun and active monkeys swinging and jumping from their logs and trees. Eventually they came to the aquarium which was an area that the zoo was well known for, as it had been built up for many years.

As they walked in to look at the brightly coloured tropical fish, Susan quipped, "I bet they don't have a giant squid."

Harry smiled at her comment as they bumped shoulders in the midst of the crowd and he whispered in her ear, "Or any mermen."

Susan looked back up into his eyes, "That's right, you had to deal with them during the second task. Cedric did tell us about that after he had to rescue Cho." Suddenly she put her hand to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."

Harry narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, wondering why she had become upset. "Why not? Oh, because you mentioned Cedric? It's okay. You don't have to avoid mentioning people who died during the war. Yeah, I used to blame myself for Cedric's death, but it's okay." Harry reached out and gently took Susan's hand and squeezed it slightly to reassure her. "I can handle things much better nowadays. That's part of why I came here to live away from magic, to help me process all of that stuff, especially with so many people who had died."

Harry could tell that Susan wasn't entirely convinced, so he reached out and put his arm around her shoulders and guided her through the aquarium. He pointed out some of the fish that he thought were particularly fascinating to look at. His gesture seemed to calm her down, which made Harry glad that he could help her out. However, he was oblivious to the looks that she was giving him as they made their way through the aquarium. By the time the finished their brief visit among the fish, Susan was leaning her head upon his shoulder, and Harry was relieved that she was relaxed enough to rest on him and that they were becoming good enough friends that she was comfortable enough with him to be close like this.

Once they were back outside Harry noticed the time. "It looks like I need to get you back home so you can get to work on time," he said.

Susan frowned, "But we were having such a good time."

"Yeah, we were," he agreed. Then he added, "It looks like my schedule might be getting busy over the next week. When do you want to hang out again next?"

Susan wasn't sure if she was being rebuffed or if he really was busy, but as she looked up in his eyes she could see he was serious about what he was saying, and she had never known Harry to be anything but honest with her. "Maybe we could do something different next week."

Harry considered her suggestion, "Well, we could go to a movie, muggles do that sort of thing often. I gather 'The Man in the Iron Mask' has been a popular one recently."

Susan considered his words, "I've never been to the movies before, so that does sound like fun."

* * *

_While Susan and Harry were enjoying the London Zoo…_

Hermione arrived at the Harry's flat, hoping to surprise Harry with a visit. She had recently learned that she had been accepted to start at Oxford University to study law, and she didn't want to share the news in a letter. But as she knew there was a good chance he might not be home, she did write down the information in a brief note to leave behind in case she missed him. She had memorised his address from the last letter he had sent to her, and she set off to find her best friend.

Draco was at home at the flat when there was a knock at the door. He had just stepped out of the shower and had quickly pulled on some jeans and threw on a t-shirt. He yelled "I'm coming, I'm coming," as he ran a towel through his hair he walked to the door.

"Oh its you," said a startled Hermione Granger as she stared at the image of a slightly wet Draco Malfoy in front of her.

"What did you expect? I _do_ live here," he added. "You _did_ know that, didn't you Granger?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Is Harry around?"

Draco shook his head. "He's out with someone."

Hermione was surprised by this answer. "What do you mean?"

Draco looked at her like she was daft. "As in he's out, he's not in. Not here, not at home, he's somewhere else at the moment, presently in a different location. Does that explain things better?" Noting her exasperated look he gave her an answer more in line with what she was expecting. "He went to the zoo with some girl he met."

Hermione was clearly surprised. "Harry didn't tell me he met a girl."

"He doesn't tell me everything either," commented Draco dryly.

Hermione glared at him. "Oh, are you two best mates now?" Her sarcasm was evident in her tone.

"Never said that," he said simply. "We have learned to tolerate each other. Kind of had to, with sharing a place to live, _and_ working at the same place."

"Where _do_ you work?" Hermione realized that Harry hadn't even told her that in the letter he had sent her.

"Harry didn't tell you that? **Wow**," he added with surprise.

"No, he didn't mention that," and her frustration was becoming evident.

Draco actually opened the door and allowed her to enter the apartment. Hermione was surprised when he sat down and seemed to indicate that she could take a seat to.

"I guess he doesn't tell you everything," commented Draco. "I thought he told you everything when we were at school."

Hermione looked at him carefully. "Why would you think that?"

Draco just smirked, enjoying the flustered look on her face.

Hermione ignored the look he gave her. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

Dropping the smirk, he replied, "I'm not his social secretary, and I don't take messages for him."

"No, I don't suppose you would," she commented, still irritated with him. "And you wouldn't give him a note if I left it for him would you?"

Draco looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "What's in it for me if I did?"

Hermione's frustration continued to grow. "Why does everything have to revolve around you? Why can't you just do something to be nice?"

"Because I'm not a Hufflepuff," he deadpanned, "and I'm not a Weasley."

"No," she added, "you're still just an obnoxious ferret."

"But a cute one," he added with another smirk.

Hermione couldn't stop her blush and quickly turned away.

Draco spoke to her back as she had turned away. "What do you want me to tell Harry? That his long lost love has returned?"

Hermione turned around at that comment. "What? We're just friends!"

Draco smirked again, "Keep telling yourself that."

Hermione glared at him again. "What do you know about anything Malfoy?" By now she was standing up again.

"It's Black now, Andrew Black," he corrected, "and he's James Black. Didn't he tell you the names we need to use in the muggle world?"

"Whatever," she said, fully exasperated by the conversation.

Draco laughed at her and he rose again and went to lean against the counter by the kitchen.

Hermione looked up at him. "Why do you have to be such an arse?"

Draco retorted, "Why do you have to be such a priss?"

As he said that he noted her hands were tightening into fists and he quickly added, "Calm down, Granger."

"Why, are you planning to insult me again?"

"No, I'm not," he explained, "but I'd rather not have you punch me either."

Hermione looked down at her hands and relaxed them as she straightened out her fingers. "I wasn't really going to punch you."

"Says you," he quipped, "you did it once before."

"Yes, but you deserved it then," Hermione said haughtily, "and that was way back in third year."

Draco paused before replying, "Yes, you're right, I did. And for what it's worth, and I know it's several years too late, but I am sorry, I never should have called you that name."

Hermione wasn't sure she heard correctly. "Excuse me?"

"I do believe you heard what I said, Granger." Draco looked at her, keeping his features blank.

Hermione still searched for some sort of emotion on his face. "Yes, I did, but I don't believe it."

Draco wasn't sure how to react to her statement. "You don't believe me?"

"No, that's not what I meant," she replied defensively, straightening up and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I can hardly believe that Draco Malfoy of all people is apologising to me for anything." She then started to look around the flat. "All right, who's pranking me today?"

Draco's lips started to turn into a slight smile. "There is no one else here."

Hermione stared at him for a moment. "Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy?"

Draco laughed slightly at her words.

She then looked at him with her head slightly tilted, trying to decide what to make of him. "You're not the same person who harassed me for the first six years at Hogwarts."

Draco suppressed a laugh. "Merlin, I hope not."

Hermione tried not to stare at him any more, "This is getting really awkward, I think I need to be going."

Draco nodded, "Do you have a message for Harry?"

Hermione realized that there was a reason she had come here in the first place. "Yeah, will you give him this letter?" She then pulled out the envelope she had with her note for Harry.

Draco took the envelope from her. "It's okay, I'll leave it for him, and I'll be sure it's somewhere that he can and will find it," he assured her.

Hermione handed him the letter and turned quickly and left the flat, wondering just what the hell was going on in there. Her mind was racing with all sorts of strange thoughts.

Draco Malfoy had apologised to her for the way he had treated her. Then she started feeling really uncomfortable all of the sudden and she just had to leave. As she was walking down the street away from Harry's flat she realized that she never asked if they had a phone, or how she might contact Harry other than through sending a letter or stopping by. And then she considered that Harry was apparently on some sort of date with a muggle woman he met here in London, and to top it off, Draco was being nice to her. For Hermione Granger, life couldn't possibly get anymore strange than it was already.

* * *

Later that day, Harry arrived home to his flat. Draco had already headed off to work. As it was now early in the evening, the shadows in the room were making the room a little darker. Harry turned the lights on and noted that there was an envelope on the counter in the kitchen. He glanced at it and he was surprised to see his name written on it, but he realized that it was in Hermione's neat handwriting. He reached for the envelope as he wondered how it managed to appear in the room, as there was no postage on it. Draco wasn't around to explain how it arrived so Harry decided to just read the letter and worry about how it managed to show up later. He grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator and sat down in a chair and kicked his shoes off and relaxed as he tore the envelope open.

"Harry,

I am so received to be back in England. I have been looking forward to seeing you again. Mum and Dad are getting settled back in their dental practices, but the adjustments have been hard on everyone so far. I wrote out this note just in case I don't get a chance to see you the first time I stop by, but I was so glad you let me know where you are staying in London. I hope everything is working out for you so far.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be spending your time not using magic after the past seven years, but I guess I will be learning about it soon. If I haven't already told you, I have been accepted to start at university. I will be enrolling at Oxford in their legal program. Hopefully I can put the degree to good use down the road in working for rights for all magical creatures.

Hopefully we can get together soon, I've missed you so much.

Please keep in touch, you can send me a letter at my parents' address until I have a place at university.

Love,

Hermione"

Harry was happy to read that she was back in England. He again considered how the letter arrived in the flat, and he presumed she must have stopped by when Draco was still there, and he quickly surmised that such an encounter must have not been a pleasant one, particularly considering how things went the last time they had a run in back at Hogwarts.

Harry stood up and went to his bedroom and placed the letter from Hermione in a drawer on his bedside table. He changed his clothes and decided to head out to the bar where he and Draco worked and see if he could get some answers. He didn't have any other plans for the evening as Susan was working another evening shift.

When Harry arrived at the bar he called over to Draco and asked for a pint of stout. Draco was chatting with a young blonde woman who was sitting at the end of the bar. Draco waved Harry over. The woman seemed to be familiar to him as he was walking down the length of the bar.

"Miss Greengrass, I would like you to meet my cousin, James Black," said Draco, "he works here some nights."

The blonde woman turned to look at Harry, "It's nice to meet you finally, Har…I mean 'James.' You remind me of someone from school," she added with a wink as she held out her hand which he graciously took and kissed gently. "You may call me Daphne," she added.

"Please call me James," he replied, "and feel free to call me any time," he added with a sly grin. "I wish we had met sooner. I do remember you from school, even if we have never formally met."

Daphne smiled, "I never realized that you and 'Andrew' were related."

"We didn't realise it at first," he replied, "but as it turns out, it's not such a bad thing after all."

Harry sat back into the stool next to Daphne. Just then another patron in the bar came up and offered to buy Daphne a drink. 'Andrew' politely declined the sale, "She's a little preoccupied with an old school friend at this time, and he doesn't like being interrupted."

The would-be-Romeo, who stood about 6 foot 4 and weighed over 200 pounds looked over at Harry and frowned, "Who, that skinny guy?"

'Andrew' leaned forward and spoke softly, "He may not look like much, but I hear he is one of the toughest guys around, I wouldn't suggest messing with him."

The man grunted and looked back at the bartender. "How would you know?"

'Andrew' looked from side to side before turning back to the man and speaking softly, "I've seen him kill someone before, that's how I know."

The man looked at Draco and saw that there was no smirk, no smile, no mirth, but a seriousness that was not to be trifled with. He then looked back at Harry and Daphne, and then he turned back to Draco, "A real psycho then, eh?"

Draco just nodded in agreement, "I've heard he even thinks he can talk with snakes."

Then the man just walked away, shaking his head, "Bloody crazy blighter."

Meanwhile Harry was asking Daphne what she was doing in muggle London, and she had explained that she was working for a company that had contacts with her father's import business. Draco interrupted their conversation and pointed out the large man who walked away after he had discouraged him from buying Daphne a drink. "You may want to take this elsewhere, obviously he's not a regular as he didn't recognise 'James', but it may be a little quieter for you two to catch up, and save me from having to watch your backs. So, why don't you go somewhere else and let someone else do it for you."

Harry looked over at the man who was staring at them. He lifted his pint in a mock toast at him which caused him to turn around abruptly. Harry turned back to Draco, "What the hell did you tell him?"

Draco smiled mischievously, "Only the truth, just that I'd seen you kill someone before. That scared him off."

Harry shook his head. Turning to Daphne he then asked her if she'd rather go somewhere else, and she agreed. The two then headed out, as Harry asked "So, what are you up for? Want a bite to eat, or something to drink, or just want to do some dancing?"

Daphne smiled, "How about all three, we could start with a light dinner, I never really got to know the Boy-Who-Lived in school, especially the way Draco there kept trying to get everyone in Slytherin to hate you. You could tell me about the real you, not the myth or the legend, then we could find something fun to do later."

"That sounds like a plan," Harry readily agreed.

Harry and Daphne made their way out of the bar and found a simple restaurant where they grabbed a light meal.

"So, you and Draco," began Daphne, "that's something I never saw coming."

Harry had a puzzled expression, then he realized what she meant, "What? No, we're just sharing an apartment."

Daphne laughed at him for a moment. "Oh, I was wondering if that was the reason why the two of you had left the magical world. That sort of thing is really looked down upon among purebloods." Then after a pause she added, "Unless it's between witches if they're also sharing a wizard. But two wizards, well that sort of thing just isn't acceptable."

Harry was a little flustered at first. "I would have thought Draco explained why we're here."

Daphne laughed again, "Oh he did tell me why you two were living among muggles. But it's Draco we're talking about, that doesn't mean I believed a word he told me."

Harry laughed in response. "So, what brings a pureblood princess like you to live among muggles."

Daphne narrowed her eyes before she answered him. "Look Potter, we barely even know each other, but that seems like its about to change, so what the hell, I guess I don't have any reason to hide from you. Being the heiress to a pureblood family when there isn't a male heir isn't all fun and games. Either I marry who my parents tell me to, or I produce a male heir, or I find some way to make it on my own. Or I improvise. This is improvising."

Harry nodded as he tried to understand what she was saying. "Getting away from the magical world seems to be a common theme for people this summer."

Daphne smiled in response. "You know Potter…"

"You can call me Harry, we're not in school, and Draco's not about to hex you for being nice to me now," he said as he interrupted her.

"Fine, Harry," she acquiesced, "I always wondered about those stories we heard about you throughout the years. I know Draco was always telling us they were lies, but I knew Hermione in a couple of classes. I had to believe that some of the tales were true."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Since I'm really not sure which stories you're talking about as I only was in the Slytherin common room once, you'll have to enlighten me."

Daphne's mouth gaped, "Wait, how in Merlin's name did you ever get into our common room? And when?"

Harry smiled broadly at her question. "Second year, with all of the rumours about who was the Heir of Slytherin. We thought it must have been Malfoy, so we used polyjuice potion, Ron and I changed into Crabbe and Goyle, followed Draco in one night and eventually figured out Draco knew nothing about the Heir of Slytherin."

Daphne narrowed her eyes and clearly doubted his story. "That was during second year, what did you do, pinch some polyjuice from Snape?"

"No," said Harry proudly, "Hermione brewed it."

Daphne was stunned for a moment, then she nodded her head, "Well I guess that does make sense in a queer sort of way."

"Okay, I revealed something of my past," stated Harry, "you should tell me something about you."

"Fine," agreed Daphne as she drummed her finger nails on the table trying to think of something to share, "I have a younger sister who had a crush on Draco, for the love of Merlin I have no idea why." Before Harry could protest that her information wasn't really noteworthy she asked him another question. "Back to our second year, is it true you killed a large snake and that you found the Chamber of Secrets?"

Harry sighed, "If this is going to be another bout of Potter reveals the truth behind of all of the rumours, what do I get out of it?"

Daphne thought about his question for about five seconds and then she answered sweetly, "You get the pleasure of going dancing with me all night, and I'll even be nice to you the whole evening."

Harry grinned as he replied, "Most guys in my year would probably kill for an opportunity like this."

Daphne smiled and lowered her eyelids seductively, "Yes, I'm well aware of how you blokes talked about me behind my back, and even to my face a few times."

"Fine," said Harry, "I guess it's a deal," he added with a smile. "So, it wasn't a snake in the Chamber of Secrets. It was a basilisk. A rather large one, considering it was about 60 feet long."

Daphne's eyes went wide as she was quite impressed. "You're a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin, you better not be lying to me about any of this."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said. "Besides, here's the scar from where it bit my arm," he added as he pointed to the round mark on his right arm.

Daphne was clearly skeptical now, "Everyone knows that basilisk venom is fatal, so try another one, Potter, I'm not that gullible."

"Phoenix tears," he said.

"Excuse me," replied Daphne.

"I think you heard me, I said phoenix tears," repeated Harry. When she just stared at him blankly he went on to explain. "Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, cried into the wound. Phoenix tears can heal pretty much anything."

Daphne meekly responded with "Oh." She looked back and forth between the scar on his arm and his face. After a minute she finally added, "Well, you were, or are, the Boy-Who-Lived, as you did survive the killing curse when you were just one."

"And back in May," Harry said quietly.

"What? When? During the battle? Was that when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named carried you out from the Forbidden Forest and told everyone he had killed you? We all thought that the war was over," Daphne said, and Harry could tell that she was upset as she recalled that day. "I know most of the Slytherins refused to join in with the students and the faculty and all during that battle, but several of my friends and I, we were fighting on your side Harry."

"I'm glad to hear it," he said in reply. "By the way, his real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle, he was a half-blood. People should not be afraid to use his name, especially now that he is truly dead and gone for good. He is not coming back ever again."

Daphne was clearly relieved to hear Harry say that and she expressed her feelings about that very matter. "By the way, after the tournament, there was still a lot of talk about what really happened. I know you always stated you didn't put your name in the cup, but no one in Slytherin ever knew the real story of how you were entered in the first place. Snape refused to tell anyone, he only muttered about your being a spoiled pampered brat and your eternal quest for fame just like your father."

Harry became quite irritated at the mention of his nemesis. "Snape hated my father and he hated me because of that. As to the tournament, there was a Death Eater who was impersonating Mad-Eye Moody, he put my name in the cup so that when I won the tournament I would sent via port key to a place to be used in a ritual to bring back Tom Riddle into a bodily form. That was when they killed Cedric. But Fudge and the ministry didn't want to believe me because that would mean trouble and difficult things to explain. It was easier for them to claim I was starkers. But all the Death Eaters knew, and they laughed about it."

Daphne could tell that this was getting Harry upset. Harry stopped his story and took a drink of water.

"Maybe that's enough of me asking you about the truth of the rumours about you tonight," she said as she reached out and placed a hand on his gently to try and comfort him.

Harry looked at her hand and then up at Daphne and he noted the compassion in her face. "It's okay, really, it is. It was a difficult time back then. But now everything is much better. Things are good, really good."

Daphne smiled at him. "After everything you did, you deserve good."

Harry blushed a little. "Thanks, I guess." He still had difficulty with accepting praise from others.

Soon they had finished and paid their tab. Daphne told him of a place where they could go dancing that wasn't very far away. As they walked there she told him that she basically worked as a receptionist for an important business that had on rare occasions done some business dealings with her father. They ended up spending the next several hours dancing at the club as they got to know each other a little better.

Harry finally arrived back at his flat at about 2:30 in the morning.

"You seem to be having fun," commented Draco.

Harry grabbed a water bottle out of the refrigerator and dropped himself down onto the sofa. "Yeah, I think I am."

Draco smirked at him.

Harry returned the smirk with a glare. "What? I'm just having fun! I've never been more relaxed in my life!"

"So, what did you and Daphne get up to tonight?"

"We grabbed a bite to eat and then we went out and did some dancing," mused Harry.

Draco laughed, "When was the last time you went dancing?"

"The Yule Ball, I think," said Harry joining in on the laughter. "If you could call what I did dancing."

"I wouldn't," added Draco.

Harry noticed the time, "No wonder I'm so tired, I need to get to bed."

As Harry was walking off to his bedroom Draco called after him, "Do you plan on getting together with Daphne again?"

Harry stopped as he thought about it, "I think I might, she's a lot of fun," then he added just to tease Draco, "particularly for a Slytherin."

"She's been a friend of mine for years," commented Draco, "hurt her and I just might have to do something drastic."

Just before Harry shut his bedroom door he called back out, "At least you didn't threaten to tell your father!"

* * *

**AN: This chapter required several revisions to deal with anachronisms I detected in proof reading it. Hopefully those have all been removed. With upcoming family obligations (travel, wedding, etc.), ongoing revisions on LE-DH, and considerations for new plot twists in this story, it may be a while before this gets updated (as in a few weeks, not sure).**

**Thanks for your continued support.**


	4. Chapter 4 - August 1998

**AN: This is a shorter chapter than the others, but it does include a little more action...**

* * *

**Late August 1998**

* * *

Draco and Harry were relaxing in their apartment one afternoon. They each were drinking a pint of stout, when Draco started to ask Harry about his personal life.

"So, how do you do it?"

Harry gave him a puzzled look. "How do I do what?"

"You spend your afternoons with Susan Bones and your evenings, when you're not at work, you're usually out with Daphne," Draco explained in between sips. "How do you do it?"

Harry looked at Draco, still puzzled a little by the question. "Susan and I hang out as friends. I've been helping her learn about muggle life and muggle London."

Draco laughed a little at Harry's comment. "At what point do you think she will have learned enough about muggle London to get around on her own? After you have had her memorise the entire London underground system and the bus schedule?" Draco shook his head as he laughed a little more at the absurdity of the idea, then he continued with his comments, "Or are you waiting until you have shown her every site in the city? Where haven't you two been yet? Trafalgar Square? I'm pretty sure you've been there. Buckingham Palace? If you haven't been yet, just let her majesty know that you're the one that ended the last wizarding war by putting down Voldemort. I'm sure the queen would probably invite you in for a spot of tea. House of Parliament? Westminster Abbey? I could have sworn I heard you mumble something about the two of you going there at some point."

Harry was clearly a little irritated with Draco's brief monologue. "We may have been to most of those places," he stubbornly agreed.

"So, what is it Harry? What's up with you and Susan?"

"We like spending time together," explained Harry, "it's not like I ever had many friends before." Harry wasn't able to hide the irritation from his voice.

"Yeah, just you and the weasel and the walking magical encyclopaedia," commented Draco.

Harry was about to glare at Draco, but then he realized that it was about the least antagonistic remarks he ever made about the other two members of the former golden trio.

"Well, they were the first friends I ever had," added Harry.

"As I recall, I did actually offer to be your friend back at the beginning of first year," stated Draco.

"Sorry, but that really wasn't much of an offer, back then," Harry added with a smile.

"Well, your small circle of friends has grown a little," said Draco, "now you have me, and Susan. And I guess we can add Daphne to the list as well."

Harry shrugged his shoulders at the statement, wondering where Draco was still going with this.

Draco went back to his earlier comments about Susan. "So, you hang out with Bones in the afternoon."

"As friends," agreed Harry, "we already established that."

"As friends," continued Draco, "then you go and party and dance with Daphne at night."

"She's a good dancer," said Harry, "and we have fun."

Draco smirked at his roommate, "No one at Hogwarts ever accused Greengrass of being a fun date."

"Wait, what? She wasn't a fun date? I don't understand." Harry was obviously perplexed.

"Never heard of her nickname? The Ice Queen? She never let guys get close," explains Draco. "Rumour was she hexed a couple of guys right in the bollocks for making moves on her. Froze one bloke's John Thomas. Most guys learned to steer clear of her."

Harry was surprised at this comment. "Obviously I wouldn't have known, dating wasn't one of my extracurricular activities when we were at school, and I definitely wasn't about to try and date any Slytherins. I was pretty much limited to quidditch, harassing you or being harassed by you, and challenging Dark Lords and trying not to get killed," replied Harry. "Usually I had a pretty full plate. That didn't leave much time for dating. And the few attempts at dating actually ended up quite miserable."

"So we all heard," laughed Draco.

Harry raised an eyebrow and glared at Draco.

"What? The gossip mill was never quiet around Hogwarts," snickered Draco, "no matter what house you are in. You know, it really wasn't nice what you and the Weasel did to the Patil twins at the Yule Ball in fourth year."

"I know, I know, and I have apologised to Parvati, multiple times," lamented Harry. "I've even apologised to Padma for Ron, I figured he's too much of a git to apologise to her properly for his own bad behaviour."

Draco suddenly changed subjects. "So, is it true that the Weasel and the Encyclopaedia are really dating?"

"Last I knew, they were, but I don't think they are, or at least I think that maybe they're not anymore," Harry said. "Hermione didn't really say in the note she left for me, but I could tell that things weren't going well before she left. And I haven't heard a word from Ron all summer, but then again there's nothing unusual about that."

Draco tried to mask his interest. "Oh?"

"Well, Ron was being a right git," Harry explained.

Draco laughed at the comment. "When isn't he?"

Harry continued to think about what happened out loud. "Hermione had to go get her parents, from Australia."

"So I heard," commented Draco, "as I told her it was a good idea to send them away."

Harry eyed Draco carefully. "Funny thing about that, you seemed to know something about more about that."

"We're not going there," commented Draco sternly. "Or at least I'm not going there with you. It's none of your business."

Harry wanted to press the issue, but he decided to let it go. "Well, Ron refused to help her find her parents, and now that she's back, she plans to go to university."

"University, as in a muggle school," commented Draco, trying to make sure he understood.

"Right, so, if even they're still together," explained Harry, "I'm sure Ron will go round the twist with that, so I doubt that they would last much longer with that news."

Harry wasn't sure if Draco seemed to smile at that comment, but he decided if he did it was probably just because it was something that would make Ron miserable.

Draco then leaned back as he put down his now empty glass. "So, you're still an idiot, Potter."

Harry tilted his head as he looked at Draco, "Come again?"

"You, and your being friends with two beautiful girls," said Draco as he got up and headed towards his room, "you're either gay, or you're an idiot."

Harry called after Draco, "I'm not gay!"

Draco called back, "Like I said, you're an idiot!"

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Walther Crabbe was an angry man. He was also a very fortunate man. Somehow he had managed to evade capture in the aftermath of what was now haled as the Battle of Hogwarts, or what his friends had called the Desecration of the Pure-Blood Way. That was the night that his son, Vincent, had died bravely trying to kill the upstart who had ultimately taken down the Dark Lord. From the stories that he had heard, Vincent and Gregory along with the traitor Malfoy had cornered Potter and his friends the Room of Requirement. Vincent had bravely tried to take them out by using Feindfyre, but the spell spun out of control, and Malfoy and Potter escaped, leaving Vincent to die horribly. But Walther had vowed to avenge his son's death.

He had initially been working on hiding from the Aurors. In the chaos following the battle, that wasn't too difficult as the ministry was in disarray. Then he needed to get information about the whereabouts of either Malfoy or Potter, but getting back to Knockturn Alley was not easy once the new interim Ministry was set up as that was the first place they began to search for missing Death Eaters. So Walther Crabbe decided to stay in muggle London, a most distasteful place for him, but at least he was safe. By August he decided it might be safe enough to venture into Knockturn Alley, but he figured he would need to use a disillusionment charm to get in there to gather information. It did not take him long to discover that both of his targets, Malfoy and Potter, had essentially disappeared by the end of June. Even their friends hadn't seen the two. Crabbe wasn't surprised that Malfoy hadn't been seen, because after all, he knew that deep down the blonde haired son was essentially no different from his father, an arrogant styling bastard who was really just a coward. Why else would he have hidden behind his son Vincent and his friend Gregory Goyle for all of those years at school? But then this Potter disappearing, that was a bigger mystery. He was the hero, he had defeated the Dark Lord for a second time. Why would he have disappeared? That was something that made him be a little more cautious, because after all, Walther knew that he did not have a reputation of being an exceptionally strong or powerful wizard. But he was not sorted into the House of Slytherin without cause, for he had plenty of cunning. He just wished his son had inherited a little more of it, and then he might have survived that fateful night, although the outcome of the battle would have likely not been changed. However, He now knew that he needed to focus on the muggle world, for chances on that is where Malfoy had gone into hiding as there would be no one left in the magical world who would dare hide him. He had made too many enemies during his years at Hogwarts with those on the side of the Light such as Potter and the late Albus Dumbledore, whom Malfoy had even been involved in the plot to murder; and he had betrayed the side of the Death Eaters when it was revealed that his mother lied to the Dark Lord about Potter's death as it became clear that he had somehow once again survived the killing curse, and then it had also been revealed that he had lied about Potter being captured by snatchers over a month prior to the final battle and apparently he and Potter had worked together to escape the Room of Requirement when Vincent died. The more he thought about it, the more he considered the possibility that Malfoy and Potter may be in this together.

Walther Crabbe decided that he had one advantage, searching for Potter and Malfoy among the muggles would keep him away from any Aurors that might be searching for him. Before he left Knockturn Alley, he had managed to get copies of pictures of both Potter and Malfoy from old editions of the Daily Prophet, and then he had to have them made into still pictures so that they would appear normal to muggles.

He had been making his way through various bars and establishments, trying to find anyone who might have seen them somewhere. After two weeks, he had not had any success. Finally he entered a bar and he was asking around, and there was a large man sitting at a bar, drinking a pint. He looked at the pictures that Crabbe had and he grunted at first.

"I think I may have run into those blokes a few weeks ago or so. Or at least some guys who look a bit like them. One of them worked at a bar, the blonde one did," he said pointed at the picture of Draco Malfoy. "That other one, that one with the messy black hair, I heard he's a right nutter he is. Apparently he killed someone, and they say people thinks he can talk to snakes. That's what I heard anyway."

Crabbe smiled broadly at hearing the news from the gentleman. "Thank you for your time, I'm sure those are the two I'm looking for." He then tossed him a couple of gold galleons.

The man looked at the gold coins, and thought they looked quite odd, not recognising the currency. He shrugged his shoulders and pocketed them, figuring that he could probably get something decent for them at a nearby pawn shop.

Crabbe then asked where the bar was located that the blonde man worked at. The man told him the name of the bar, and even gave him the address. This time Crabbe gives him a ten pound note before leaving.

The man called after him, to thank him. "You never told me you name, so I could thank you properly!"

Crabbe stopped and turned, and then he looked around, and when he felt no one was paying attention he quickly cast an obliviate spell. Then he turned and walked out of the pub.

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

DMLE headquarters

Gawain Robards was not a happy man. As head of the DMLE since the new administration had been installed in June, his job had not been an easy one. The war had ended months ago, but there were still various battles being fought, both literally and figuratively. Supposedly the Death Eaters that had survived the Battle of Hogwarts had all been rounded up once the dust and rubble had settled. The problem was that there were now rumours that there were various survivors that had managed to evade being captured in the early morning hours after Potter had somehow managed to defeat the Dark Lord. And Robards had just finished with a meeting with the interim Minister for Magic and it was not a pleasant one.

The Head of the DMLE's thoughts were all along the same bent: _Who would have known that Minister Shacklebolt was friends with that brat Potter? Hell, the kid never even finished school, and considering all of the reports that came out of the ministry over the previous several years the kid was probably half crazy. Now he had all but disappeared. And there was information that some of the rogue Death Eaters may be after him. _

Robards sat back in his chair. He knew that there wasn't much he could do about this situation. He didn't know this Harry Potter, other than the stories that were being told about him, and he was sure that most of it was pure exaggeration or just the imaginations of school girls run wild. But he was still the hero of the entire wizarding world, times two now, and if something happened to the lad while he was the head of the DMLE, it would be his head that was going to roll.

Well, at least the order from the minister was clear, he needed to do anything to make sure that Potter was safe. So, if that meant that the two recently apprehended individuals in the holding cell needed to be questioned again, and perhaps with a little stronger questioning about just what they were after, then so be it. Gawain Robards wasn't about to let those two punk Death Eater wannabes hold on to any information that might prove to be useful.

He called on two of his more experienced Aurors to get the job done. "Smythe, Gobstone, get in here now," he yelled down the hall. "I want you to go down to the holding cells, and I want you to speak with those individuals who were recently apprehended. The Minister for Magic is concerned about the rumours of Death Eaters being on the loose and being after Potter. So, if there is any chance that those two have any information that they haven't given us, then it is up to you to make sure that they aren't withholding anything from us. Have I made myself clear?"

Auror Smythe shifted on his feet and glanced slightly at Gobstone to his right, "If I understand you correctly, then we are to be absolutely certain that there isn't any information they haven't shared with us?"

"I do believe that is what I said, Smythe," snapped Robards.

Auror Gobstone nodded his head, "No questions asked about how we get the information then?"

Robards raised an eyebrow as he sneered at the Auror. "All I want to know is what those two Death Munchers know. Do they know anything about Potter? Do they know anything about plans to get Potter? The minister wants answers and I don't plan on disappointing the minister. Do you?"

"No sir," they responded in unison.

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Susan Bones had been away from the magical world for some time, but she had been in regular contact with her best friend Hannah Abbot. She had received post from Hannah asking her to come visit for a couple of days, and Susan had managed a couple of days off from her job as a waitress so she was able to get away to visit her. It wasn't hard to get over to the Leaky Cauldron and then from there to make a simple trip via floo to Hannah's parent's house where they would be getting together.

They hugged each other upon finally seeing each other. They put Susan's things away in Hannah's room, where the extra bed was already made up and ready for, as it always was when they were younger. Then they went down to the gardens where there was a table in the shade. Hannah asked the house elf to bring them some drinks in a few minutes, and then a light lunch a little later after that.

Once they were alone, Hannah hugged her friend again. "You won't believe what's been happening since you left! Neville, he's like a different person. He asked me out shortly after the battle, and he's almost completed his mastery in herbology already. No one has ever completed their mastery so quickly! I overheard Professor Sprout telling another professor that she can now plan on retiring within the next few years and leave everything at Hogwarts to Neville!"

Susan was amazed by what Hannah had to say. "That is amazing. But if he is doing so much work, how does he have time for you?"

"Oh, he makes sure he has time to see me everyday, and he is just so sweet," Hannah added. "Who knew that Neville would grow up to be such a great guy? The way he took charge last year to protect everyone, the way he helped in the final battle, and now."

"He sure seems to have become a special guy," agreed Susan.

"So, Susan," commented Hannah, "you've been kind of evasive in your letters about what you've been up to since you went all muggle on us."

Susan started to blush. "Well, I can't believe that I've been spending so much time with Harry Potter."

"What? You've been living in muggle London for months, how could you be spending time with Potter?"

"But so has Harry," said Susan shyly.

"Wait a minute, back up, start at the beginning," demanded Hannah.

"It started back in the end of July,"explained Susan, "I was feeling homesick for the magical world, I was standing across from the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, on the muggle side, and who comes up from behind, but Harry bloody Potter."

"No!" exclaimed Hannah.

"Yes, silly," argued Susan with a girlish laugh, "why else would I be telling you this?"

"Go on," prodded Hannah.

"Well, we end up getting lunch, and then he asks if I know my way around London, so we take one of those muggle tour bus trips around the city," continued Susan.

"How ridiculous," commented Hannah.

"It was grand fun," recalled Susan.

Hannah asked, "What's he really like?"

"He's charming and sweet and unlike anything YOU ever accused him of being back in school," stated Susan.

"That's so unfair," said Hannah with a pout.

"No," argued Susan, "you were so unfair."

Ignoring her friend's comment, Hannah pushed for more information, "So then what?"

"Then we would go to the park or to a movie, or to museums and such," continued Susan with her explanation.

Hannah was amazed that her friend had met up with Harry Potter of all people in muggle London of all places. "So, how often do you two get together?"

"Once or twice a week," Susan answered. "He works as a bartender, as does Draco."

Hannah was taken back by the last comment. "What? Who? Are you talking about Malfoy?"

"Yeah, he's sharing an apartment with Draco Malfoy," Susan stated as thought it was as expected as the sun rising in the morning.

Hannah gaped at her friend, "Now you've got to be pulling my leg!"

"I didn't believe it at first," stated Susan, clearly understanding the disbelief, "but I even stopped by their flat a couple of times, and it's true. It's really weird, it's like they're friends now or something."

Hannah shook her head as she tried to grasp this new idea, "That makes no sense at all."

"Apparently they both wanted to get away from magic for a while," continued Susan, "but Draco had no idea how to even begin to do it, and the only one he dared ask was Harry."

"His saving people thing," said Hannah softly.

Susan now asked in surprise, "What?"

Hannah smiled as she realised there was something she knew about Potter that Susan apparently didn't know. "Granger used to say something about that back in school. Potter has this saving people thing, so if Malfoy said he needed help, Potter would be gullible enough to help."

"Or nice enough to help," added Susan with a smile.

"Oh my, Merlin's beard," said Hannah as she put a hand to her mouth, "you've fallen for him, haven't you?"

"Have not," said Susan in denial.

"Oh, yes you have," accused Hannah, "you two are dating aren't you? Why didn't you say anything?"

"We are not dating!" she insisted.

Hannah glared at her friend, "Why are you holding out on me? We're best friends!"

"We're not dating," protested Susan. "I think Harry's too shy to ask me to date. You remember the stories about the Yule Ball, and the fiasco of his trying to date Cho Chang."

Hannah thought about it for a minute, "Oh, yeah. But he's really into you, isn't he?"

Susan thought about it for a moment. "Well, we do get together a lot."

Hannah then asked, "He's not seeing anyone else?"

"I don't think so," replied Susan, "he works in the evenings, but so do I, and we get together some I the afternoons. I know he occasionally hears from Granger, but I don't think he's actually _seen_ her. I know he was upset that she came by at least once when we were out, I think it was when we were at the zoo."

Hannah became more hopeful for her friend. "Does he tell you he likes you?"

Susan considered her friend's question. "He seems to like spending time with me."

Hannah deflected the response, "Potter's nice to everyone, you've got to figure out if he likes you likes you."

Susan stared at her best friend, "You sound like a little school girl."

Hannah huffed, "This is Harry Potter we're talking about here, not just some average wizard off the street."

"I _know_ who it is." Susan paused for a while. "We _do_ have a lot in common."

"Of course you do," agreed Hannah, "you both do magic, yore both cute, you're a girl, he's a boy, you're prefect together, so whats the hold up?"

"You're impossible," laughed Susan.

"You're single, and you should be dating Potter," said Hannah, "and we need to make sure that he knows that…if that's what you want to do, that is."

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Walther Crabbe found the bar he was looking for. As long as the information that he received was accurate, then it was well worth the money he paid, although no amount of money would bring back his son Vincent. The night air was warm for late August. "Pity that," thought Walther, "as the old goblin proverb states that revenge is a dish that is best served cold. Perhaps I should cast a freezing charm on them before I'm finished with the two blood traitors." That thought started to cheer him up slightly.

Crabbe made a cursory stop in the front of the bar, and he quickly ascertained that his source was indeed correct. In fact, both Malfoy and Potter were working behind the bar. Crabbe couldn't help himself as he shook his head, realising how far those two families must have fallen that their would be heirs had taken menial jobs in the muggle world. He told himself he would be doing the magical world a favour by taking out these two for betraying their kind. However, he knew he would need to wait. It wouldn't do to start something right now with a crowded bar. No, he realized it would be best to bide his time, wait until the muggles went home, wait until the bar closed.

So Crabbe left the bar, certain that he wasn't noticed by either of his targets while they seemed to happily wait on their muggle customers. He scouted out the area and he found an alleyway next to the bar that would most likely be the area that the two would leave once they were done working. He told himself that he could be patient just a little longer, as he had waited this long since the Desecration of the Pure-Blood Way, another couple of hours wouldn't hurt, especially if it would bring about the revenge which he had been planning for so long.

By 2 AM, the bar was finally closed and the last of the customers had finally left. Crabbe started to pace back and forth on the opposite side of the street. He could see that the lights were being turned off inside and that the shadows of the last few employees were making their way towards the employee entrance in the alleyway. Sticking to the shadows, Walther Crabbe moved to the entrance of alley and drew his wand. As his anticipation grew he didn't count on his wand hand beginning to shake, and his first blasting hex sailed wide and missed both Malfoy and Potter and caused a stack of crates to explode.

Harry potter was the first to move. He dove to his left and came up with his want in his right hand, having it handy in a holster hidden in his sleeve. Harry quickly discerned a figure cast in a silhouette from the street light across the road and he began to cast overpowered stunners.

Draco was a little slower to action but he soon had his wand in hand, removing it from a holster strapped to his right leg. He started casting blasting hexes at the unknown assailant.

Meanwhile, Crabbe's aim was becoming steadier as Harry had to hide behind a dumpster and Draco dove behind the corner of the building so as not to get blasted.

The magical battle lasted only a few minutes before Crabbe was brought down by a series of blasting hexes as Harry had reverted to using those instead of the stunners, recalling the lessons he had learned during the war. Cautiously he and Draco approached their fallen attacker, worried that he might not have been acting alone. The few other employees who were leaving the bar with them were hesitant to come out into the alley after witnessing the spells being cast back and forth, and wondering just what was going on and just who James and Andrew really were.

Within five minutes a team of Aurors arrived, ordering Harry and Draco to stand down and drop their wands. Immediately they dropped their wands and did as they were told.

Draco spoke up first. "Don't you know who that is? That's the bloody Boy-Who-Lived. You better be damned sure you know what you're doing if you think you're about to take into custody Harry f'in' Potter!"

The Aurors hesitated for a moment and turned to Harry. One of them spoke up, "Is that true, are you Potter?"

Harry sighed. "I have a disillusionment charm to hide the scar. You should be able to tell though."

The Auror captain stepped forth and scanned Harry. "Well, I'll be. Sorry about this Mr. Potter." He turned to the others with him. "Check out the one lying down over there."

A moment later one of the Aurors called back, "He's alive, although just barely. Might make it if we get him to St. Mungo's immediately, but not sure that'll do any good."

"Check his left arm," barked the captain.

The junior Auror quickly pulled back the man's sleeve. "There's a faded Mark, sir."

"Do we have an ID on the man?" called out the captain.

After another minute the junior Auror replied, "It seems to be Walther Crabbe, sir. He's been missing since the Battle at Hogwarts sir."

The captain barked out some orders. "Get Crabbe to St. Mungo's. Johnson, call for an obliviator squad and get them here pronto. The rest of you start cleaning up this mess." Then he turned to Harry and Draco. "I'm going to have to ask you two to come with me, for questioning. Routine stuff, we'll need to complete some paperwork about this. I presume Crabbe started this by attacking you?"

Harry answered first, "Yes, we were just coming out of the bar, into the alley back there when he started to cast spells at us. His first spell went wide, which allowed us a chance to draw our wands and defend ourselves."

The captain nodded, "Sounds like this will be routine. We had heard that someone was after Malfoy here, and rumours that some Death Eaters had managed to escape capture and maybe after you too, Potter. So I think this paperwork is merely a formality. If you don't mind, I'll just have you apparate back to the DMLE offices with me."


	5. Chapter 5 - Death Eaters & Neanderthals

Death Eaters and Neanderthals

* * *

Harry and Draco were detained briefly at the DMLE headquarters. The Auror Captain, Joseph Bagley, had the wands examined and returned to the two young men rather quickly. Draco was permitted to leave but then Harry was asked to speak with the captain privately.

As soon as the door to the office was close, Harry asked, "Is there a problem, Captain Bagley?"

"Perhaps there is, but not in the way that you think, Mr. Potter," replied the Auror. "Or should I say Lord Potter. The wands checked out fine, nothing but stunners, and some strong ones at that and some blasting hexes. I assume you must have had some training with old Mad-Eye before he snuffed it. Compared to what we found on Crabbe's wand, you're cleared to go."

Harry nodded his understanding, but then asked again, "Then why am I still here?"

"There's another issue I thought you should know about," added the Auror captain with a sigh. "It seems that there may be more than just Crabbe after either you or your friend. We have a couple more former Death Eaters in a holding cell. Still trying to get information out of them. We're still not sure if there are others out there, and if there are, how they know how to find you. Hell, my staff didn't know how to find you. We just showed up at a location of magic use."

"That's been my goal," explained Harry. "I've been trying to stay out of the limelight, if you know what I mean."

"Well, until early this morning," acknowledged the Auror, "I'd say you've been doing a smashing job of it. I don't think I can keep something like this out of the papers though."

Harry raised an eyebrow in an unspoken question of why not.

Bagley explained further, "Don't think Crabbe is going to pull through. The blighter is probably dead already. That's not something we can or will even try to cover up. The current Minister for Magic doesn't work that way. The story will break soon enough that a Death Eater escaped capture, and give everyone in the current ministry a black eye. They'll probably play you up as a martyr in that the guy came after you. But once again, you came out on top. Then who knows what kind of spin they'll put on your hiding away from everyone for the past few months."

"I don't want or need any publicity," said Harry, shaking his head at the thought.

"I figured as much," commented Bagley, "which is why I wanted to give you warning, not just about the two detainees, but about the probable news story."

"Thanks," replied Harry, "I think."

Bagley stood up, shook Harry's hand and led him out of his office. "Is there anyway to contact you if we need to? I presume with the way you've been laying low you've managed to isolate yourself from the owl post."

"Send me a message through Gringotts," answered Harry. "They'll know how to reach me."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived back at his flat, exhausted from being up all night and having been in a magical fight for the first time since the Battle of Hogwarts. The sun was rising and he realised that he was not about to get any sleep. He slumped down onto a chair as he considered that he was supposed to be going to a museum with Susan later this morning.

Draco apparently had returned and gone straight to bed. "Lucky him," thought Harry.

After resting for a while, thinking about why there were two other Death Eaters in custody and the ramifications of Crabbe getting himself killed by attacking them last night, Harry decided to get up and make himself busy by doing some chores around the apartment and fixing himself some breakfast.

Several hours later, it was time to meet up with Susan. While he was looking forward to it, he was already tired. Harry shook his head as he realised it was going to be a very long day.

Harry arrived at her apartment at the planned time for them to meet to head to the museum. Susan immediately could tell that something was wrong as Harry stepped through the door. "Harry, you look exhausted and it's only mid morning," she stated with concern in her voice. "Is something wrong?"

Harry smiled at seeing Susan. "Wrong? No, not at all, I just didn't get any sleep last night. Maybe it would be better to just go to a park today instead of to a museum with how tired I feel, if that would be fine with you."

Susan still looked worried. "Of course that's fine with me, silly. We can head over to Hyde Park again, that was so pretty and so relaxing." As they left to head to the park Susan hoped that she would actually hear the real story as to why he was so tired.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Hermione Granger was elated. She had received notification that she had been accepted to attend university and she would be able to start working towards a law degree. Once she obtained that she could then start work on representing the rights of other magical creatures. The first person she wanted to share her news with was Harry, so she headed straight to his flat.

Upon arriving there, she knocked on the door, and a voice called out telling her that the door was unlocked. She let herself in and found that Draco was standing in the kitchen.

Hermione was slightly irritated to see the blonde prat, as she referred to him internally, "Is Harry around?"

Draco replied cordially, "He's out, again."

"I can see that," she observed looking around the apartment, "where now?"

Draco rubbed his forehead slightly, then answered, "Well, after the Aurors took him in for questioning, I think he had another date for today."

Hermione's jaw dropped. "Wait, the Aurors? What Aurors?"

Draco shook his head at her response. "Aurors, as in magical police. Come on Granger, you're supposed to be the smart one. I didn't think a little time away like a trip to Australia would cause you to forget everything you learned."

Hermione did not find any amusement in his attempt at humour at her expense. "I know what Aurors are you git. Why would Aurors need to question Harry?"

Draco continued to give less than complete answers. "Probably something to do with taking out Crabbe."

Hermione continued to be perplexed by Draco's responses. "But Crabbe's dead, he died in the Room of Requirement, which as I recall, Harry saved **you** that night when he grabbed you and pulled you onto his broom."

Draco shook his head in bewilderment at how slow she was at figuring this out. "No, not the stupid goon I used to use as muscle, his father. Blamed me for his son's death apparently. Dear old dad was after me, I gather. Actually managed to track us down to the pub. He tried to ambush us in the alley, but we managed to hold our own."

Hermione gasped at the thought of another magical battle. "Is he…is Crabbe?"

Draco finished her question for her. "Is he dead? Possibly, not sure, but from what I could tell he wasn't in good shape. Remind me not to piss off Harry, one of his reducto curses can be quite vicious, especially if its well placed."

Hermione shivered at the thought. "Why does everything seem to revolve around Harry?"

Draco replied with a question of his own. "What's all this about poor Harry? Crabbe was after me! No sympathy for me now? Oh, that's right, I'm just the bigoted Slytherin who called you a mud-blood once."

Hermione now glared at him. "You called me _that_ a lot more than once."

Draco sniffed, "I apologised to you the **last** time you stopped by."

Hermione remembered her last visit when Harry wasn't present and how uncomfortable she felt. "Yes, you did," she conceded.

"How about I try to make it up to you," he offered.

Hermione was still surprised, but remained silent.

"Over dinner," he added.

Hermione was shocked, "What?!"

Draco was taken aback by her response. "Am I that loathsome to you that you would say no?"

Hermione did not back down in her defensiveness. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

Draco pressed for more of an explanation, "And why is that?"

Hermione searched for an answer and tried to find a logical one. Finally in an emotional outburst she yelled at him, "Because I hate you!"

Draco simply raised an eyebrow at her.

Hermione was hiding her face in her hands as she was crying. Draco had a mask of indifference that he maintained in her presence.

"I suppose I deserve that," he began in response to her outburst. "Many years of speaking down to you, trying to humiliate you, calling you names. Yes, that would easily make you hate me. My aunt torturing you, well that I had no control over. The snatchers taking you to my father's house, again, I had no control over that either. So, I am guilty of years of abuse of you as a person, much of which I can try and blame on the lies of pure-blood supremacy that my family has been teaching for generations."

Hermione was avoiding looking at Draco until she heard the last of his excuse. Then her head snapped around. "Excuse me, did you just say the lies of pure-blood supremacy."

"Yes, I do believe those were my words," he replied as he was turning to walk away towards his room.

Hermione was stunned by what she heard him say, and she felt she could hardly believe him. "Then you're not just saying that for my benefit."

Draco had stopped and was now facing her again. "I may be a Slytherin, from the house of cunning, but I was definitely sincere with what I just said. Moving on, Harry's not here, so you might as well leave." With that he turned and went back into his room.

Hermione stood there for a moment, not sure what to think. She wondered if she was being fair with Malfoy. Was he being genuine in his apology? But he had been abusive to her for years, she reasoned with herself. But he was just explaining to her that he was trying to fight generations of ingrained pure-blood bigotry. She wondered what had she just done. She turned and left the flat.

She stood alone just outside of the apartment as she felt she needed to give Draco some space. She had no idea when Harry was going to get back from his date. As she thought about it, she was actually kind of surprised that he was dating some muggle woman, but then again, with the way things had been going this summer, she probably shouldn't be surprised by anything. She noticed that rain clouds were starting to roll in and the sky had turned grey. She decided to try and catch up with her friend another day, and send him a note via the regular mail, and she started to make her way back to her own apartment as the rain started to fall.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

DMLE Holding Cells

Auror Captain Bagley had ventured over to the holding cells.

"So, Smythe, Gobstone", he called out, "do you have any more information from these two?"

Gobstone didn't respond, he simply looked to Smythe.

Smythe stared at Bagley as he internally debated whether to answer the Auror captain.

"I could haul you into Robards office," stated Bagley, "which he might not be too happy about, considering he has been here for a while already, going over my report on the attack against Potter that occurred in the wee hours of this morning, or you could do the smart thing and share with me what you have already learned."

"It seems these two were sent to gather information on the whereabouts of Potter, sir," answered Smythe. "They were pretty banged up when they were caught. It actually wasn't that hard to get information out of them, sir."

"Who sent them to track down Potter?" asked Bagley.

"It's all in my report, sir," added Smythe.

"Does it look like I'm currently reading your bloody report?" barked Bagley.

"No sir, they mentioned something about someone they called the Shadow Lord," said Smythe.

"There, that wasn't too hard, now was it," stated Bagley as he turned and left.

As the Auror captain walked away Gobstone finally spoke up. "Why does he remind me so much of Mad-Eye Moody?"

"I think Mad-Eye was his uncle or something," remarked Smythe.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry and Susan had arrived at Hyde Park, where they had been before earlier in the summer. But they noted that the sky was turning grey, so they decided to spend the rest of their morning at the Lido cafe just catching up. Susan was worried when she heard what had happened the night before, when Harry finally told her about the attack in the alley and having to speak with the Aurors. He reassured her that the DMLE understood that their actions were purely in self defence and that neither he nor Draco would be in any trouble.

"That's not what I was worried about silly," she said as he finished his story.

"Well, I don't know what else there is to worry about," added Harry, "the Aurors already sent in teams to obliviate any muggles who may have witnessed any magic. They had other teams who came by to fix anything that was damaged."

"Harry, that's still not what I'm talking about," commented Susan.

Harry shifted a little in his seat as he stared at his cup of tea. Then he looked back as Susan. "You don't need to worry about me, Sue."

Susan was slightly surprised at the familiarity of his calling her Sue, only her Aunt Amelia ever really called her Sue. "Why can't I worry about you?"

"I've survived an encounter with a sixty foot basilisk when I was only twelve, I've faced down Voldemort six times," he explained, "I think I can handle one former Death Eater with a grudge."

Susan huffed, and then she asked him, "When was the last time you used magic?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Last night, obviously."

Susan shook her head. "Before last night, and I mean _really_ used magic."

Harry narrowed his eyes at her as he responded with a question, "What difference does it make?"

Susan sighed audibly. "It makes all the difference. When you faced Voldemort, at least the last time, you had been practicing, you were prepared. You've been living among muggles, you're not using magic here Harry. What if a spell doesn't work right all of a sudden? What if you missed with a spell?"

Harry relaxed slightly. "It won't happen. It can't happen."

She rolled her eyes. "Can you be so sure?"

Harry responded almost flippantly. "I have to be, particularly if someone has to be watching Draco's back."

Susan was getting frustrated. "Why?"

Harry responded with another question. "Why what?"

Susan explained her question more clearly, "Why do you always have to have this saving people thing?"

Harry puzzled over the question. "Is it so bad?"

Susan felt like screaming at his responses. "It will be if it gets you killed!"

Harry shrugged. "I kind of thought risking things for others is what people do, after all, it's my earliest memory, it's what my parents did for me."

Susan couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. "Oh my, Harry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."

"You didn't Sue, you were bringing up my 'saving people thing' which Hermione used to complain about. Personally, I never understood what the problem was," he began in his response, hoping to ease her concerns. "But I actually took the time to think about it this summer. You know, with not having a madman after me trying to kill me, life can be kind of peaceful. And I actually have time to rest and enjoy things and think about things. Things like where did this saving people thing come from. I think it comes from my mum and my dad and what they did for me. So, honestly, I'm not going to fight it."

Susan reached out and took his hand and squeezed it. "Well, when you put it like that, it's really kind of sweet and meaningful."

"Who knew," commented Harry

"Who knew what?" Wondered Susan

"That 'Harry Potter' could be so deep and caring," he added with a laugh.

Susan smiled, "Anyone who actually took the time to get to know you."

Harry smiled back, "Perhaps, its just that so few actually bother to do just that."

The rain started to come down harder. "Well, this looks like this day is a wash out," quipped Harry. "I was hoping that we could have had another nice day at the park."

"Maybe we can try again tomorrow, but I have an early shift," commented Susan.

"Then maybe we just make an early start to the day," added Harry.

Susan smiled, "That sounds fine to me. How about we do something different tomorrow?"

Harry raised an eyebrow in response.

"Why don't I come by your flat and then we can head to someplace from there?" suggested Susan.

Harry didn't need to think long on the suggestion. "Sure, that works for me," he readily agreed.

Harry then wandlessly conjured an umbrella.

Susan was startled by his actions. "How did you do that?"

Harry smirked at her. "Perhaps I'm not so rusty with using my magic as you thought." He then held up the umbrella and led her on her way back to her apartment.

Harry eventually arrived home at his apartment, and he was surprised that no one was home. He had assumed that Draco would have been there, but then again maybe he had plans that he was unaware of. Harry stopped by Draco's bedroom and noticed that the door was left slightly open. He pushed it open slightly and peaked inside. He was not expecting to find the scene in front of him. Someone had clearly taken out a lot of frustration within that room as very little was left in one piece.

Harry called for his house elf, Kreacher.

With a slight pop, the old house elf arrived. "What does master Harry request of old Kreacher? Does Master Harry tire of the blonde ferret?"

"No, Kreacher," answered Harry, "but if you could fix the mess in the blonde ferret's room, that would be a great help. Oh, and has anyone else tried to beak into Grimmauld Place?"

"Two more of the old Snake Followers have made attempts to make their way into the house in the past couple of weeks," replied the old elf.

Harry was a little surprised to hear this. "And what became of them, Kreacher?"

Kreacher seemed to bounce a little as he answered. "Master Harry gave me permission to deal with them."

Harry grew a little concerned at the excitement he noted on his house elf's face. "Now Kreacher, what were the rules?"

The house elf frowned slightly, "No killing."

Harry was a little relieved to hear the first one recited. "Yes, that was rule number one."

"No blood on the floors or the walls," croaked the elf.

"Yes," replied Harry, "that's good, Kreacher."

"No disturbing the neighbours," continued the elf.

"Yes," acknowledged Harry, "and do you remember the other rules?"

Kreacher seemed a little frustrated at being quizzed by Harry. "No doing anything that could get Master Harry in trouble with the ministry."

Harry was quite pleased with his elf. "Very good, Kreacher. Now, please tell me, what exactly did you do?"

Kreacher seemed to brighten as he responded, "I left them without their wands in the middle of the muggle zoo that you told me about."

Harry frowned slightly, "That doesn't sound so bad, Kreacher."

Kreacher smirked, if a house elf's expression could be described as smirking, "I think they were next to the large striped cat creatures."

Harry looked at Kreacher. "I didn't read about that in the papers or hear about it in the news."

"I wouldn't know anything about the muggle news, Master Harry, sir," stated the house elf.

"Well, Kreacher," continued Harry, "are you sure that they were Death Eaters?"

"They did say they were trying to capture you and the blonde ferret brat," explained Kreacher, "and they would have their revenge for their master."

Harry had to admit that did make them sound like they were Death Eaters. "Did you get their names?"

Kreacher shook his head. "No, but the Aurors who picked them up after they were alerted by the magic released by the breaking of their wands outside of the cage may have something to do with it. And I may have given them information about what they were doing immediately before they appeared in the zoo."

Harry sat down in a chair. Harry realized that these two were probably the same ones that Auror Captain Bagley was referring to earlier int he day. And if the DMLE had already captured those two, and they did not reveal anything about Crabbe's plan, then they must have been working separately. Harry pondered how many others may be working on coming after either himself or Draco.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

DMLE Headquarters

Shacklebolt was sitting in his office listening to the report from the head of the DMLE. He was not pleased with the report that Gawain Robards had been recounting to him.

Shacklebolt wanted answers. "What the hell was Crabbe doing there? How did he find them if we had no idea where Potter was?"

Robards was not enjoying this meeting at all. "We don't know sir, but after we finished our investigation, Potter left. Malfoy's wand was checked out at as well. He was as much a target as Potter was, or so it seems."

The minister was still not happy. "What's the connection between Crabbe and the two down in the holding cell?"

Robards still had little to go on. "Nothing that we can tell, other than the all seem to have their own vendetta against both Potter and Malfoy, and their connection through the Dark Lord. And we do have the report of the interrogation of the two, and they mentioned someone whom they called the Shadow Lord as putting them up to what they were doing."

This information definitely got Shacklebolt's attention. "What else do we know about this Shadow Lord? Was Crabbe working for him as well?"

"We know nothing further about this Shadow Lord, nothing else references such an individual before this event. And we don't know if he has a connection to the Dark Lord," explained Robards.

Shacklebolt sighed in frustration, as he knew all too well that the early part of an investigation was crucial but all too often there was little information to go on. "Do either of Potter or Malfoy know about what's going on, about this vendetta? Is that why they're hiding out together?"

Robards felt that he at least had some information. "As near as we can tell, Malfoy is hiding out from the Death Eaters, Potter is just avoiding us."

Again Kingsley frowned. "Potter's avoiding the DMLE or the Aurors? Is he hiding something?" Kingsley was increasingly frustrated, as he felt like he used to know Harry.

"No sir," Robards tried to explain, "he's avoiding witches and wizards in general. That's what we've learned from his friends sir, from Weasley and Longbottom. He just up and left sir."

Shacklebolt sighed. "Then why is he staying with Malfoy?"

"We're still looking into that," answered Robards, "so far we don't have a clue. Do you want us to investigate him sir?"

"Harry Potter? No! Let me see if there is anything I can turn up on my own," stated the minister. "I'll let you know if I find out anything useful, after all, I was an Auror, and I do know Harry. And I know some of his friends. Now, what do you know about this Shadow Lord?"

Robards frowned, "As I said earlier, that was the first reference we have heard of him."

Shacklebolt shared in his frustration. "Well, see that your staff finds out everything they can about this whole situation. I'd also tell you to keep this quiet, but I doubt that we can do that with Crabbe's death. I did hear correctly that he died at St. Mungo's."

Robards acknowledged that indeed Crabbe had succumbed to his wounds and that the Daily Prophet most likely already is preparing a story.

Shacklebolt nodded, "Well, like I said, let me see what I can find out about Harry. You and your team find out you can about the Shadow Lord, then find him, and stop him, whatever he is trying to do."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry went home after dropping off Susan at her flat and actually rested and slept for part of the afternoon. He knew that he had had plans to meet up with Daphne at a club later, so he figured he needed to rest up. He wanted to put the whole ordeal of the night before behind him and figured the best way to do that would be to keep going about doing things that he had already planned. Besides, Crabbe was dealt with, and the two individuals who had tried to break into Grimmauld place were already in DMLE custody. What else did he have to worry about? He figured that going out dancing would be a great way to take his mind off of everything.

Harry arrived at the club a bit later than he had expected, as he had slept longer than he had anticipated when he took a kip. Harry looked around the club for a bit as he initially wasn't able to locate Daphne. After a few minutes, he noted she was dancing with some other guys, so Harry decided to head out onto the dance floor and join her. However, as he approached her, some of the guys near her tried to scare him off.

"Hey bud, she's busy, she's already with someone, so leave," grumbled a large and stocky young man with short cut hair.

Another similarly built individual came up and stood next to the first one and crossed his arms on his chest. "In other words, get lost."

As Harry got closer, he also noticed that Daphne seemed to be very amorous towards the guy she was dancing with and very clingy towards the others in general. Clearly something was definitely not quite right with the situation. Harry didn't know exactly what happened, but he quickly surmised that someone, probably the guy she was clinging to and the one he wasn't be allowed to get close to, had slipped her some sort of muggle drug, which was causing these effects. Harry also quickly wondered if muggle based drugs might have different effects on magical based people.

Harry decided to ignore the two neanderthals in front of him. "Excuse me," he tried to sound polite, and forceful, "but that is my friend over there and I did come here to meet up with her and to dance with her, so if you wouldn't mind just stepping aside…"

"You must be stupid, or deaf," grumbled Neanderthal one, "but we do mind, and we already told you to get lost. I guess we'll just have to explain this to you a little more clearly."

He then proceeded to grab Harry by the shoulders and carry him through the crowds out back. No one in the club seemed to care, and everyone seemed to react as though this was a common occurrence. Harry's initial reaction was to show Neanderthal a look of fear as he was lifted up and carried away. Once they made it to the back alley. The large man made a big goofy grin as he drew his hand back to punch Harry. Harry simply smiled as cast a wandless 'stupefy' spell. Harry thought to himself as the large man collapsed in the alley, "Poor guy never knew what hit him."

Harry walked around to the front of the club. The bouncer recognised Harry as someone who had already been inside and assumed that Harry must have just stepped outside for some fresh air, and waved him along inside. Harry smiled at the man and returned to the club. Once again he made his way back to the dance floor and encountered the goons who were protecting the man who was dancing with the obviously (to Harry at least) drugged Daphne. Upon seeing Harry return, unharmed and by himself, the others were quite startled. The man who was with Daphne took noticed and made a nod with his head towards Harry.

This time Neanderthal two showed up accompanied by another guy who Harry had seen with the apparent leader's entourage. "I don't know what you did with Jimmy, but we'll be sure to take care of you properly, this time."

The two side kicks grabbed him, one on either side, and dragged him out back. They arrived in the alley and found "Jimmy" lying there unconscious.

Neanderthal two, who was still apparently unnamed, punched Harry in the gut. (Harry was grateful he was still holding him with the other hand as he assumed that made the punch hit a little less hard.) "Okay, smarts, what did you do to Jimmy here?" demanded the man who had just punched him.

Harry was trying to get his breath back as he answered, "I just said one thing to him."

The big man replied, "What was that?"

Harry smirked, "I told him he was stupid to mess with me."

The two laughed at him. "You think you're funny? A little comedian, huh?"

Harry noticed a large trash bin behind them. He then called out, "Accio dumpster."

Before they knew anything, the two thugs were run over by an errant trash dumpster. Harry held his hands up and as the dumpster collided into the thugs and hit his hands it came to a stop. Harry braced himself and was thrown slightly backwards. He looked down at the now two more unconscious thugs. "Now that had to hurt," Harry thought to himself. He also considered that as he was using wandless magic he probably hadn't alerted the DMLE to anything that was happening here at the club.

Returning once again to the club, the bouncer looked at him as he walked in, "You all right mate?"

Harry smiled, "Sure, I'm fine, never better."

Harry walked in and goes up to Daphne who is holding on the arm of the leader of the group that had drugged her.

"Hiya Harry," she slurred out

Harry noticed that her dress was pulled away revealing the sides of her breasts, and that many men nearby were leering at her.

Harry then walked up to the man who was holding her. "Now, how many more of your flunkies do you have left? I'm getting tired of this. If you have any more, I'll just take them all out back right now and be done with it, or I'll just leave now with my friend and I'll leave _you_ in one piece."

The guy looked at Daphne and then he looked at Harry. He looked him up and down and noticed there wasn't a scratch, a bruise, a mark, and his clothes weren't even a mess. Yet his three men, his best enforcers were nowhere to be seen. Realising that this was not a battle that he was about to win, or at least not easily, he quickly yielded.

"Here, take your slut," he said. "She's probably just a useless skank with who knows what for diseases."

He then shoved Daphne across the floor towards Harry. Harry caught her in his arms.

Daphne squealed as Harry caught her before she crashed into the floor.

"Come on Daph," said Harry gently, "we need to go."

Daphne was clearly not in her usual mind, "Where are we going?"

"We're heading out of here," he said simply, guiding her towards the exit.

"But I want to dance," she whined.

"Not anymore tonight," he said, "you've had too much fun already."

"You're no fun," she pouted.

Harry knew this would be hard until she was sober, "I can be loads of fun, but you're _not_ really having any fun."

"They promised me lots of fun," she protested.

"I'm _sure_ they did," said Harry, trying to hide his anger.

Daphne giggled, "Will you promise me fun?"

"I promise you that you'll be so happy with me that you will thank me for this," said Harry, then under his breath he added, "eventually."

Once they left the club, Harry wasn't sure of what else to do, so he decided the best decision was to bring her back to his apartment. Arriving there, with Daphne who was obviously under the influence of some substance, made more than a little bit of noise as they entered the flat.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's not what I ever expected," he stated, "you getting Greengrass drunk and then bringing her back here for a shag."

"Shut the hell up, Malfoy," snapped, Harry. "Some other people drugged her, and then they were trying to take advantage of her. When I tried to rescue her, they tried to beat me up. So, I ended up having to use some wandless magic in an alley behind the club, and then I managed to get Daphne away from those miscreants, and I couldn't figure out anything else to do with her, so I brought her back here, for her own safety."

"You and your saving people thing," interjected Draco.

Harry sighed heavily, "What would have had me do?"

Draco shook his head, "Hey, I'm not complaining. And hopefully, when Daphne's sober, she won't be complaining either."

Harry nodded in understanding, "Yeah, well now I just need to get her to bed."

Draco laughed, "See, just like I said, bringing her back just to shag her."

"We get to shag!" exclaimed Daphne.

"No one's getting shagged!" replied Harry.

"And that's the shame of it all," added Draco.

Harry glared at Draco as he spoke to the girl he was supporting with his arm, "Now let's get you to the bed, Daphne."

"Sounds wonderful," moaned Daphne.

Draco laughed at Harry's predicament. Then he called out, "Bold Gryffindor golden boy couldn't take advantage of such a gift when he had the chance!"

A few moments later Draco received a stinging hex for his comments.

Draco called back, "What was that for?"

"Your stupid comments," Harry replied as he brought the still addled Daphne into his bedroom.

A minute later Harry appeared in the main room of the apartment with a pillow and a blanket.

Draco gave him a puzzled look, "What are you doing now?"

Harry stared back at him for a moment before replying, "Sleeping on the couch, obviously."

"Like I said," added Draco before he retired to his own room, "bloody noble Gryffindor."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**AN: There have been some changes to the plot (going forward) — some are actually based on some suggestions from readers. This story started out as mostly fluff — an idea of Harry and Draco going to live in the muggle world, add a little relationship drama for Harry…but then some plot ideas were developing in the background…why did Draco want to live in the muggle world? In this story to avoid Death Eaters. That arc is now being developed, and will continue to be developed. To develop that further and to work on some of the ideas from some messages I received from readers in PMs, it has been taking some time to rework the next 6 chapters from the previous outlines, so that this will develop into more than just Harry/Susan vs. Harry/Daphne (although that will be part of this). So there will continue to be various plot lines developing, hopefully making this story more interesting, and keeping the interest of those of you who have started to read it.**

**Dark Lord Potter is not abandoned, just delayed while this story is being worked on…as my other stories in development are similarly delayed…**

**As always, thanks for the reviews. - X**


	6. Chapter 6 - Repercussions

_**The Daily Prophet**_

Potter Defeats Rogue Death Eater!

_The Boy-Who-Lived is alive and well, and as it turns out, the followers of He-Who-Was-Defeated have not given up on their attempts at revenge for their loss. Apparently outside of a muggle bar not too long ago an angry Walther Crabbe, confirmed Death Eater, who somehow evaded capture after the Battle of Hogwarts attacked our young hero. In an attempt to ambush the unsuspecting young man, Crabbe started the duel by casting several curses at him. It turns out that Potter has not lost his skills from years of playing Quidditch and he was able to skilfully avoid injury. _

_Using a combination of stunners and blasting hexes, Potter, who was for unknown reasons in the company of another wizard who has been rumoured to have had ties with Death Eaters, the young Draco Malfoy, was able to subdue his attacker. The DMLE released a statement that the injuries that Walther Crabbe received were simply from multiple stunning hexes and minor blasting hexes, however the resulting internal damage resulted in extensive injuries which ultimately lead to his death. Despite his being transported quickly to the capable hands of the healers at St. Mungo's the medi-witches and healers were not able to save his life. A thorough investigation revealed that Crabbe was definitely a Death Eater and that he had been involved in many plots to attack and discredit Mr. Potter over the years. It was also revealed that part of his motive for attacking Mr. Potter may have been his blaming him for the death of his son, Vincent Crabbe, who was a student in Mr. Potter's year at Hogwarts and who died during the Battle of Hogwarts._

_It is unknown at this time why the Malfoy scion was with Mr. Potter in the early morning hours, or even why the two of them were deep in the heart of muggle London. What is known is that neither Mr. Potter nor Mr. Malfoy have hardly been seen in the magical world since shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts. Some had even feared that some evil had befallen out hero, but we are all glad to see that he is fine and even more so that he came out unscathed from this altercation in a muggle alley._

_Mr. Potter could not be reached for comment after the events of the other night and neither could Mr. Malfoy. We were able to speak with one of the Aurors involved in the investigation of the incident and learned that both Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy fully cooperated with the DMLE in their investigation after the altercation and that their wands were checked and that there was clearly no evidence that either one of them had used any dark spells. The summary of the event was that the two young wizards acted completely in self defence. The Auror who spoke to left us with this warning, if there are any other Death Eaters out there who managed to survive the Battle of Hogwarts and evade capture by the DMLE, it would be a fool's mission to go after Harry Potter, because after all, he took down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, then he should be able to take down any of his followers._

The Shadow Lord folded the paper and tossed it to one side. "Those fools at the DMLE and the paper, they are playing right into my hands. Make everyone think that Potter is invincible, that they are all safe! No one will see me coming! They'll never be ready for what I have in store for them. It will make it all the more sweeter when I bring him and his so called friends down."

* * *

His laugh was unpleasant and ended in spasms of coughing.

He then ran a hand along his chin as he considered what he had just read. "So, it is true, he is also hiding among the muggles, just as I had suspected. It's such a shame that most of the wizards and witches are too foolish to read between the lines of the information that they gather and publish. Now, I just need to locate where he is, but that shouldn't be too hard, his friends will make that so easy for me." He started to laugh and cough once more.

"I'll need to prepare other targets as well. Longbottom won't be easy, he's too well protected behind those damned wards his grandmother put up, and she only strengthened them after what those fools did to his parents years ago. The Bones Heiress, now she would be a potentially easy target, based on the old family traditions, I'll need to be sure to look into those. The Weasleys, there are so many of them, would anyone notice if they're even targeted? Then there is the crazy Lovegood girl, and of course, the mudblood…"

He then turned and looked off to one side. "Did you get all of that? We'll need to start with the easy ones, and we'll need to contact the other assets for help, eventually. Now, get me the information I need, and bring it back here, _today_."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry Potter's Flat - the morning after he rescued Daphne Greengrass

Harry had woken up and started to get himself some breakfast. Draco then woke up and entered the kitchen. He stopped and noticed that Harry was still dressed in the same clothes he had on from the night before, although his shirt was unbuttoned and he was now barefoot.

"Hey mate, nice pyjamas, there," he said with a laugh.

"Hay mate," said Harry, echoing the tone, "nice bedroom you have there. Oh, you might want to thank Kreacher at sometime, it seems that he might have fixed some things for you."

Draco was about to comment about Harry's jibe and about Harry's house elf when they head a sound emanating from Harry's bedroom. The door opened and out walked a bleary eyed blonde woman, wearing a tight T-shirt that was rather revealing and a pair of male boxer shorts. She was rubbing her eyes as she was trying to gather her wits about her. Both Harry and Draco noticed Daphne stumble slightly as she stepped towards the kitchen.

She moaned out through a dry voice, "Um, where the hell am I?"

Harry responded first, trying to sound cheerful, "Good morning to you too…"

Daphne's eyes shot opened as she looked around the room. She finally registered both Draco and Harry and then she put a hand to her mouth and gasped, "Oh Merlin's hairy, b…"

Daphne never finished what she was saying as she had turned around and ran back into the bedroom from where she had emerged.

Draco looked at Harry. "What was that about?"

Harry shrugged, "I suppose she woke up wondering where she was, not remembering much of anything. I would guess that she then put on some clothes, grabbing whatever she could find and came out here. Now she is trying to remember what the hell happened last night or she's trying to figure out if we slept together."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "This could go well or you are about to get hexed into oblivion."

"I do have you as a witness," commented Harry, not taking his own eyes off of his bedroom door.

Draco laughed, "Really? She knows me. I'm a Slytherin. Like my word would be good for anything."

Just then there was a knock on the door. Draco commented "I might as well get that, since you look like crap as you're still wearing your clothes from last night."

Draco opened the door and he was initially surprised to see Susan Bones.

"Hi Draco," she said warmly.

Draco was stunned and now speechless and thought to himself, this is about to get really interesting.

Susan frowned slightly, "I guess Harry didn't mention that I was coming over. We had plans to go to the park today, since yesterday was kind of a wash out."

Draco just shook his head, still too stunned to speak.

Susan thought Draco was just being a little strange, so she walked past him and into the main room of the flat. "Hi Harry," she said in greeting, and then she noted he appeared to be wearing clothes from last night.

Harry looked over at her, "Oh, good morning Sue." He noticed her frown, and he tried to explain, "Sorry Sue, I'm just running behind this morning, I had a late night last night."

Sue smiled, "That's okay, it's not like we're in a rush."

Then Daphne came back out of the bedroom, still in Harry's T-shirt and shorts, with her hair pulled back. "I'm so sorry Harry, and thanks again so much for last night, that was _really_ special what you did."

Harry turned and looked at Daphne, and he realised she must have remembered much if not all of what happened last night.

Susan Bones looked up at the new comer walking into the kitchen and her jaw just dropped at what she just heard and what she saw.

Harry's brain started to kick into gear at what was just said and how it may have come across to Susan who had just walked in and witnessed all of this completely out of context.

Draco realised that Harry's problems were now just magnified and he had to do all he could to keep from laughing out loud.

Susan looked back and forth between Harry and Daphne.

Daphne realised there was another person in the apartment and then she quickly recognised her as a classmate. "Oh, hi Susan, I didn't notice you there at first."

Susan's response was icy, "Good morning Daphne. I didn't mean to intrude on anything. I was in the neighbourhood and I thought I would just say hello to Harry and Draco, but I guess I'll see them some other time."

With that she turned and left the apartment.

Harry stood up to follow after her and caught up with her just outside of the door of the apartment. "Susan, where are you going? What's wrong?"

Susan was wiping a tear from her eye. "I guess I must have misjudged you, Harry. I thought we were friends, I was hoping we might be able to be _more_ than friends. I didn't realise you had a shag partner already."

"What are you talking about?" asked a bewildered Harry. "Wait, Daphne? Nothing happened between Daphne and me! Please, let me explain!" Harry desperately pleaded with Susan as he realised how this must have looked to her.

"We had plans to go to a club to go dancing. We were supposed to meet there. But I got there late. It turned out that some muggles slipped her something. Some drugs, I think. They were trying to take advantage of her. I finally was able to get her away from them. Bloody hell, I don't even know where she lives. She was in no condition to go anywhere on her own at that time, so I did the only thing I could think of and I brought her back here, and she slept in my bed, I slept on my couch. Why do you think I'm still in my clothes from last night?"

"But she said…" began Susan, as she let her words fade off as she considered what she was going to say… "And she's wearing your t-shirt and clothes."

"Think about it Sue," Harry pleaded again. "I brought her home to my apartment. She had been dressed to go dancing. She woke up in an unfamiliar apartment. What do you think she would find to wear?"

Susan shifted from one foot to another. "Couldn't she find a baggier shirt and some looser fitting pants?"

Harry wasn't sure what to say as he just stared blankly at Susan who was standing there in front of him. He realised that she was pouting and holding her arms folded underneath her chest. Harry actually noticed that Susan had quite a nice chest. Susan noticed that Harry was staring.

"Harry, I don't think now is the appropriate time for you to stare," she said sharply. Then she quickly added, "Although, another time I might find it flattering."

Harry closed his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry Sue," he quickly apologised, "you're right, I am so sorry."

Susan tried hard not to smirk or to smile in triumph, "I don't know if getting together today is such a good idea."

Harry opened his eyes and looked at her and he could see the hurt and the pain in her eyes. "Actually, I think we do need to get together, because I think it's obvious we need to talk about some things, such as my being blind and stupid."

Susan raised an eyebrow at his admission, "Well that sounds hopeful, a guy who might be able to admit he has faults."

Harry blushed slightly, "Maybe we should meet up and talk things over, maybe at the coffee shop we've been to before." He hesitated a moment, "But I think I need to sort a few things out back inside. Daphne kind of passed out when I got her here last night, I still feel like I need to make sure she gets back to her flat safely, I just need to follow it through."

Susan smiled at him, "I understand, go ahead, finish your saving people thing."

Harry smiled at her and gave Susan a slight hug. "How about we meet up at 10, would that be okay?"

Susan looked at her watch on her wrist, "Make it 9:30 and you've got a date. Any later and I'll be gone." She recrossed her arms. "I know we're just friends, but somehow I feel like I've been cheated. Yes, I heard what you said, and yes, maybe I'm overreacting, but I'm telling you now how I feel." Before Harry could say anything more she turned and walked away.

Harry watched her leave and then he looked at his own watch, and thought to himself, 'great, that leaves me less than one hour to sort things out here.' He then turned and quickly headed back inside.

Harry walked up to the bar by the kitchen where Daphne was standing and drinking a glass of orange juice. As Harry walked in, Draco decided that he should probably make himself scarce and he headed back into his own room.

Daphne looked up from her juice as she put the glass down on the counter.

"Harry, I finally remembered everything, or at least almost everything from last night," she said softly.

Harry was about to say something more but she cut him off. "No, please, let me finish," she continued. "I'm really not sure what those muggle creeps did, maybe they slipped something into my drink, I don't know. I thought I was having fun, but that wasn't me, that was the effects of whatever they gave me. Something really wasn't right, for all I know, the effects were compounded because of my magic, but that doesn't matter. I just really want you to know that I really appreciate what you did for me last night."

Harry was about to say something when she leaned forward, reached out with her hand and lifted his chin slightly as she began to kiss him. Quickly it turned into a full on song. Harry was about to protest, but his tired brain quickly accepted what she was doing and returned the kiss. Who knew that the Ice Princess of Slytherin was so skilled at kissing? Well, Harry Potter did now.

Harry was a little out of breath and he was definitely feeling confused. The look on his faced betrayed his thoughts. Daphne stood back and noticed the look on his face.

"What, are you dating Bones? No wonder she was so irritated when she walked in," commented Daphne. "She must have thought we slept together last night," she added with a laugh.

"Yes, she did think that, and no, we're not dating," replied Harry, still with the deer in the headlights look as he couldn't get the sensation of Daphne's lips on his off of his mind.

Daphne now was puzzled. "So what's the problem?"

Harry shook his head slightly to try and clear his thoughts which had become muddled thanks to the beautiful blonde woman in front of him. "I think I might want to date her, and I think she might want to date me."

Daphne frowned slightly, "But what if I wanted to date you?"

Harry was floored by her comments. He was too stunned by her question to think of a way to respond.

"Think about it Potter," Daphne added.

Harry's brain started to engage, "Are you serious?"

Daphne smiled. "You're cute, you're chivalrous, you're pretty good with magic, you've proven you're brave, you're a hero to all of magical Britain, okay, most of magical Britain, you saved my ass last night, so why wouldn't I be?" She paused as she let her statement sink in for a moment. "Besides, as the oldest heir to a family that only has females, I need to find a guy who might allow me to have more than one child so one of them could take my last name. Most wizards would say no, you don't seem to be that type."

Harry's head was spinning. "That's a little too much information after just one snog."

Daphne smiled, pleased with herself for both putting all of that out there and getting such a reaction out of the famous Boy-Who-Lived. "Hey, I'm just putting it out there. Besides, you had a chance to take advantage of me, and you didn't. I know I can trust you, and frankly, that endears you to me, and as I said before, you are kind of cute. We've been hanging together on and off for a while, and honestly, I do like you. And you're even learning to dance."

Harry stood there in shock. He wasn't used to girls asking him out. Especially girls as pretty, no, as sexy as Daphne Greengrass. "Daphne, I really don't know what to say. I'm about to go talk with Susan about our relationship, about her and I starting to date."

Daphne frowned slightly, "I can be very patient if I need to be." She then smiled and added, "Oh, and Potter, if you repeat _anything_ I just told you to anyone, I'll hex your bollocks off."

Harry gulped. "Uh, Daphne, just for curiosity sake, what would your reaction be if I were to start dating Susan?"

Daphne raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Like I said, I can be patient, and I can be persuasive, and I like challenges. But don't worry, I do consider Susan Bones a friend." Then silently she said to herself, for now at least.

"Harry, If you don't mind, I'll just transfigure some of your clothes into something a little more appropriate and make my way home," added Daphne before Harry could say anything further. "Besides, you have a date with Susan to get to."

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Andromeda Tonks was surprised to have the Minister for Magic show up at her door. She was quite beside herself with trying to care for her grandson.

"Andy, I am sorry to drop by unannounced like this," stated Kingsley, "but I didn't want to draw attention to my visit, so I had to get away from my staff and I didn't want them pestering you or anything."

"Well, this is a surprise Shack," replied Andromeda, "I haven't seen you or heard from you since the funeral."

Kingsley ignored the friendly jibe. "How is little Teddy?"

"He's doing fine," she stated, "but I'm sure you're not here just to check up on my grandson."

Kingsley smiled, "I'm that transparent, am I? Actually, I was wondering, have you heard anything from his godfather?"

Andromeda Tonks hesitated before answering. She was a lawyer and a darn good one. She was smart enough to know that she shouldn't reveal any information one way or another until she had a clear handle on any situation. "Now that's an unexpected question. Did your ministry lose contact with the 'chosen one'? Did you discover a new dark lord that you need Harry to take care of for you?"

Kingsley was quite aware that his question went unanswered from the sly attorney in front of him. "I just need to know if you have been in contact with him, that is all."

"Is Harry in trouble?" she asked, again in such away that she still had not revealed any useful information.

"Trouble? No, but if you had seen the Daily Prophet, you would know that it still has a way of finding him," Shack explained. "Apparently he has been living among muggles. And apparently people who want to hurt him have found him, and we haven't. Someone is after him, and your nephew, and that someone or possibly some persons know where they are, but the DMLE only knows where Harry and Draco were attacked."

That news got Andromeda's attention. "So, you're admitting that someone who wanted to attack Harry and or Draco did a better job of tracking them down than your own Aurors have?"

Kingsley sheepishly acknowledged that yes, that was the situation.

Andromeda Tonks returned Kingsley's original question with a series of her own. "Why are these unnamed people after Harry? Or are they after Draco? And why, pray tell, are Harry and his nemesis from Hogwarts together?"

And before Minister Shacklebolt could claim Ministry secrets or some other such nonsense, she added, "And remember, you came to me seeking information, so if you want any answers, you better be prepared to answer mine first!"

Kingsley resigned himself to revealing what he did know. "It seems that Harry and Draco rooming together, in muggle apartment, but I have no idea why they are doing that."

Andromeda thought about what she had heard. "That is most unusual, for both of them, not that I really know my nephew all that well. And no I haven't heard from either of them," she continued. "I haven't heard from Narcissa, we're not exactly on speaking terms."

The minister seemed puzzled as he asked, "Not even over Black Family issues?"

Andromeda laughed. "You should know that I was cast out long ago."

"I thought you were brought back in by the current Lord Black," Kingsley added, recalling that he had overheard Harry's plans to do that at one point.

"Yes, he did," she laughed slightly again, "however, the Malfoys were never particularly close to Harry, were they, my brother-in-law especially."

"So, you have not had any contact with Narcissa, then?"

"Kingsley, you're worse than a reporter and a rookie prosecutor, I already answered that question," replied Andromeda with more than a little irritation. "Obviously you and your ministry and the DMLE want to find Harry, and you have no idea where he is. For some reason he and his cousin, because essentially he and Draco are cousins, are living somewhere among muggles in London. Did you ever consider that everything Harry has been through over the past seven years has kind of turned him off to magical society? Our world has turned on him about as often as the sun rises in the morning. He has saved our skins from Voldemort more than we know, he has saved students at that school countless times, usually to be labelled as either the next Dark Lord on the rise or as a lunatic or a murderer or Merlin knows what. Maybe the young man just wants to be left alone."

Kingsley frowned. "But there are those who do not want to leave him alone," he added.

Andromeda sighed heavily. "As the Daily prophet indicated. And yes, I _have_ read the article." She smiled at him. "I _am_ from the House of Black. I _am_ a Slytherin. And I there _is_ something more that you want, besides information about my grandson's godfather."

Kingsley deflated slightly. "I'm that transparent, am I? Well, I am fully aware of your skills, your legal skills. There have been some questionable transactions going on over at Gringotts. I need a pair of trustworthy eyes looking into this, and I need it to not be immediately traced back to my office that such an investigation is underway."

She scoffed at his comments. "Then how do you propose that I actually investigate Gringotts? It's not like they would be open to just some random audit from any old wizard walking through the door."

"No, of course they wouldn't," agreed Shacklebolt, "however, I do have some ideas on how you could go about this, and as you said, you are a Slytherin, and you are a Black…"

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott were about to head back to school to repeat their seventh year. They had met over the summer and both of their mothers had discussed with them that with the fall out from the events in May and June that it might look better for the two of them to distance themselves from the activities that had occurred, whether or not they had participated in them. Pansy had asked Theodore to meet with her this morning, before they were to head back to Hogwarts, as she wanted to speak to him about what it would be like to return to school for an extra year. They met at her home and she had a house elf bring them tea and biscuits to a table in the garden out back.

Pansy spoke first, "Is anyone else from our house and year returning?"

Theodore replied quickly, "I heard Draco has disappeared."

"And Daphne," added Pansy.

Theodore nodded, "But the Prophet had some report that Malfoy and Potter took out Crabbe's father the other day."

There was silence in response to his comments and Theodore felt that it must have struck a nerve with the young woman. He then asked, "Do you know something about that?"

She answered quietly, "The Shadow Lord does."

Theodore was surprised, but tried to hide his reaction. "So, you've heard about this shadow."

Pansy nodded and continued to speak softly, even though they were in her own yard. "We need to speak about him only in safe places. Hogwarts will probably not be safe, at least not in the halls, and definitely not in our dorms, with the fall out after the defeat of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters."

Nott looked around the yard for a moment before commenting further. "I presume your father's locked away, too."

Pansy shrugged slightly, "Well, I think my father is only in a holding cell, isn't your father at Azkaban?"

The young man shifted slightly as he answered, "Yes, he is there again. The last time he was there, the Dark Lord was able to have him and others broken out."

Pansy tried to change the subject. "Is Goyle returning?"

Theodore looked down at his feet before looking back up at Pansy. "I'm not sure, I haven't heard yet about Blaise, either, but I rather doubt it. He never really hung out with us that much. I think Davis is but again, I'm not sure. Bulstrode might be coming back. We may have some luck with some of the new 7th years in joining us. Maybe even some of the 6th years."

Pansy spoke sternly to him, "Remember, if we speak with _any_ of them, it will have to be one on one, either before we get back to school, off the school grounds, or at least outside. Be careful about who you speak with about any of this."

Theodore raised an eyebrow. "So, have _you_ spoken with the Shadow Lord?"

Pansy sat up straighter. " Yes I have, and he will communicate only with those he selects and only with pure-bloods and only on his terms."

Theodore eyed her on a new light. Quite simply, he was impressed with Parkinson, in a way he never had been before. "Is there a plan?"

Pansy smiled demurely, "Yes, but the first plan is a simple one."

Theodore leaned back slightly as he asked, "And that is?"

Pansy had a smug expression as she stated, "What Vincent's dad failed at: revenge."

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

The man walked at a hurried pace. Although no one was following him, and no one in particular knew where he was or where he was going. The people he passed along his way just seemed to ignore him. But it was those people that he passed that bothered this man. These people were just so…he searched for the word in his mind as he tried to move quickly without looking like he was moving quickly…they were just so _beneath_ him. They were just so plain, so simple, so ordinary. They were just so _muggle_.

Malcolm Travers had always been a supporter of pure-blood rights, just not so openly as his cousin. His cousin, the Death Eater who helped create the Muggle Born Registration Committee, and who happened to die during the Battle of Hogwarts, or what this new Shadow Lord was calling the Desecration of the Pure-Blood Way. However, having to make his way through muggle neighbourhoods and down an alley to an abandoned building just to find this so called Shadow Lord was more than a little disconcerting for someone who had spent so little time in the muggle world, and never so far away from the magical world. Especially with the instructions that under no circumstances was he to use **any** magic during his travels to get to this location.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, there was a simple door, with no obvious lock and no obvious magical barrier. Travers was not very good at detecting wards, or he would have known that there were several that had already been set up protecting the building. They just weren't cast by wizards. The Shadow Lord may not have enjoyed having to work with the goblins to have the wards erected, but he did appreciate the secrecy and anonymity involved.

Travers made his way to the back room, which was dimly lit, and the mysterious Shadow Lord could hardly be seen sitting in the, well, shadows. Travers fought off laughing at the absurdity of it all.

The man in the shadows spoke softly, "Do you have the information?"

"Yes, I have the files you requested," replied Malcolm, placing the folders on the table. "They are labeled accordingly: Potter, Weasley, Longbottom, Lovegood, Granger."

"Good, good," commented the voice in the shadows. "What about the others? The other names I gave you?"

"I started with the ones who were involved in the original attack, the ministry attack to get the prophecy a couple of years ago," Travers tried to explain.

"They are all blood traitors," hissed the voice which sounded raw. "Bones, Greengrass, Malfoy, Abbot, and any others who supported Potter in **any** way during and after the war."

Travers trembled at the anger and venom in the voice. "You can't possibly be planning to attack them all openly!" he exclaimed.

"Of course not! I am no fool. A fool wouldn't have survived as I have, a fool would have rushed out for vengeance as Crabbe did," commented the Shadow Lord, with a slight laugh. "No, I am truly of the house of Slytherin. I will set my plans in motion, slowly, carefully, methodically. Potter will not be able to defend himself from that which he does not know is coming. Now, get me the rest of the information, and do it quickly."

* * *

**AN: another chapter done. Lately these chapters are shorter than what I often post for most of my stories, but they seem to naturally break at theses points. (or not so naturally - the meeting between Harry and Susan will occur in the next Chapter - and Harry WILL show up on time...don't worry). Life is getting more complicated for our intrepid hero, in more ways than one...fate still likes to kick him around apparently...**


	7. Chapter 7 - Fallout

**AN: This is a fairly quick update for me, I am not sure when the next one will be able to happen as I will be on vacation and I will be working on more of the plot changes.**

**So far I have deleted one anonymous review - posting reviews that curse me and tell me I am stupid for the way I write my story is no way to get it posted. You may not like the story, but then again, you don't have to read it. I know I take some criticism for my stories (Lord Emperor is undergoing some rewriting that includes dealing with some plot inconsistencies that MANY reviewers pointed out that I missed, so I do NOT discount criticism). I even have gone back and fixed grammar and spelling mistakes which I have missed and others have pointed out...however, if you don't like major themes or story arcs, well, it is my story. I took a lot of criticism for one small part of my story in Moving On, and I still get reviews that blast me for that. I understand that criticism and that particular issue will NOT be happening in this story...(you will have to read that story to find put what I am talking about if you don't already know).**

**Also, as far as story criticism goes, as I pointed out in another author's note - this story started out mainly as fluff - but a commentary from a reader made me reconsider and I have changed to plot and thrown in mystery and intrigue and the whole "Shadow Lord" plot, which is, in my opinion, making a much more interesting and exciting story, adding adventure and magic and all that...so, I feel I do respond to constructive criticism.**

**Now that is all out of the way, thanks for reading, and** **I hope you all enjoy this chapter...**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - Fallout**

* * *

Harry arrived at the coffee shop at 9:29. Susan was sitting a table outside reading a muggle newspaper, seemingly very relaxed.

"Um, hey Sue, it looks like I made it here with a minute to spare," said Harry as he sat down next to her.

Susan looked up at him with a weak smile, "It's okay Harry, I would have given you an extra minute or two, but probably no more than that."

Harry frowned slight at her words before speaking up again. "So, can I get you something while we're here?"

She shook her head, "Actually, right now I'm not particularly hungry or thirsty, for some reason." Harry could hear the frustration and pain in her voice. "Maybe we should just take a walk in the park."

Harry nodded in agreement and offered her his hand. Reluctantly, she took it, and they walked across the street and into the park. They began their walk in silence for several minutes before Harry finally started to speak.

"You know Sue, my friends from school, Hermione for one, think I can be a little thick at times," he said slowly.

Susan didn't respond as they walked through the gardens of the park, and Harry then continued, "We've been spending a lot of time together, I've been showing you all around London, and it's been great and all. I've really enjoyed it." Harry paused again as he took a deep breath. "You might have noticed when we were at Hogwarts that I really didn't have many friends. Beyond Ron and Hermione no one really wanted to hang out with me. There were those who wanted to be with the Boy-Who-Lived and all that, but few people wanted to know me, Harry. Then we ran into each other and it has been really nice."

Harry stopped and looked at Susan. "I've enjoyed being friends with you. I really have. And then I ran into Daphne this summer too. And we started going to clubs. And we would go dancing. And that was really fun too."

As they had been walking for a while and Harry looked up and noticed that they were near a park bench with a view of some flowers so he pointed to it and the two of them took a seat.

Susan quietly sat down.

Harry then continued. "I never really was very good with dating. I had a horrible experience at the Yule Ball in fourth year. Then I tried asking Cho out in fifth year and that ended up being a huge mistake."

Susan was about to say something but Harry waved her off as he continued.

"Then in sixth year I had this foolish idea that I was interested in Ginny, you know, Ron's little sister. We broke up, well I broke up with her at the end of the school year. I was worried that she would be targeted by the Death Eaters, and that was also when the three of us left to go after things we needed to take care of to finally put down Voldemort for good." Harry passed again to rub his forehead in the middle of this part of his story. He noticed that Susan seemed to be hanging on his every word, but he had to look away from her for a moment before he continued.

"And while we were doing that, going after the Dark Lord, fighting to end the war, I realised that I could never really be with Ginny. She reminded me too much of my mum, and I never really knew her, my mum that is. And she was still Ron's little sister. Besides, I would always wonder how much of her interest in me was just hero worship after what happened during my second year, so I really had no interest in dating her by the time the battle was over."

Harry paused in his monologue and looked over at Susan who now seemed to be unsure of how to respond to everything he had just said.

Harry grimaced slightly as he added, "Too much to say at once, huh."

Susan smiled, "No, it's okay, you really had a lot bottled up."

Harry nodded and smiled awkwardly. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I think when it comes to girls, I really don't know how to act. I don't know what to say. I've never been very good with this sort of thing."

Susan leaned towards him. "Harry, it's okay." She lifted a hand towards him, put a finger on his lips. "It's okay. Stop talking for a moment. I think I get the point."

Harry was surprised by her response. "You do?"

Susan tried to calm him. "Harry, you need to calm down and relax."

Harry was stunned by her reaction, "Oh."

Susan spoke quietly, "Harry, just close your eyes."

Harry did as she said. She then removed her finger from his lips. She then replaced her finger with her own lips

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

A knock came on the door to the apartment. Draco wondered who could it be now. Harry had Daphne had cleaned herself up and left. He walked over to the door and opened it.

"Oh, it's you," commented Draco.

"Nice to see you too, Malfoy," said Hermione as she glared back at the blonde standing in front of her.

Trying to be nicer, Draco opened the door as he said, "Why don't you come in, Granger, although Potter is not here. I think he is off with one of his girlfriends, or perhaps potential girlfriends is more accurate."

Hermione was already walking into the flat and then she stopped and turned around and stared at the blonde ponce. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, he did bring back one girl from a club last night," began Draco in way of explanation, purposefully not giving her the whole story, "snogged her before leaving this morning and then heading off to spend the day with the other girl who showed up this morning, who was not happy to see that the girl from last night was still here and wearing not much more than one of his t-shirts."

Hermione continued to stare at Draco in disbelief. "Harry would never do something like that."

Draco laughed at her. "Oh, he most definitely would! You just don't have all of the details."

Hermione frowned, feeling disgusted at what Draco might be laughing at. "I don't think I want to hear the details."

Draco smirked some more. "How quickly you jump to conclusions about your friend, whom I thought you knew so well and trusted. Tsk, tsk, Granger, giving up on him so easily. I would have thought you had more faith in your dear friend than that."

"What? You're the one who told me he took someone back here last night," she protested.

Draco continued with his smug smile, "Yes, I did, but I did not say I told you the whole story."

Hermione's protest turned to a pout. "But that wasn't very nice."

Draco's expression turned to one of calm indifference, "That was very Slytherin of me. Please, Granger, remember to whom you are speaking."

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "So then, Malfoy, could you please tell me what really happened."

Draco shrugged, "I don't know all of what happened."

Hermione felt like screaming at him. "Very well, can you please tell me what you do know."

Draco walked into the room and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs. Hermione followed him, dropped her shoulder bag onto the floor and slid into a chair as well.

"Harry was supposed to meet a friend at a club, but he arrived late. And this lady friend had apparently been drugged by some unsavoury characters, who were planning to take advantage of her," Draco began explaining as best as he could. "Harry, being the Gryffindor golden boy that he is, dashed into the fray and saved her, apparently taking out several of the thugs in the process."

Hermione gasped slightly at hearing this.

But Draco continued with the tale, undaunted by her interruption. "Not knowing the address of said damsel in distress, he returned here and deposited the drugged lady in his bed and slept on the couch. Upon awakening this morning, said damsel, who was disoriented and wearing her evening wear changed into one of the chivalrous lion's t-shirts and came into yonder kitchen as Harry's date for the day arrived. Seeing said nymph in such a state of undress thanking our hero for last night's escapades distressed the young woman who arrived unaware of Harry's plans for last night. Needless to say, this young woman was not too pleased to witness the situation and assumed the worst, just as you have."

Draco leaned back into the chair with a smug look on his face.

Hermione was awed by the story. "So where is Harry?" she asked wondering what happened next.

Draco stood up and walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of water. He offered one to Hermione and tossed her a bottle as well. Then he answered her question. "I do believe that he is trying to sooth the feelings of the second young woman who was feeling grievously wounded by the scene she witnessed this morning."

Hermione took a sip of water and then asked, "Where is the other woman? The one from last night?"

"The fair strumpet has returned home after failing to woo Harry in thanks for his chivalrous deed, although I do believe that she will continue to ply her womanly arts of persuasion on dear Harry as he has proven himself to be of the highest character and noble standing," declared Draco. "Plus he can take care of himself in a brawl when out numbered by some rather large muggles. Or at least that's his version of the story, but he didn't have even a mark on him, so I wonder how much of his side of the story is true."

Hermione now sunk back into the chair contemplating the story she had just heard.

"Now that our discourse is completed, Granger, I see no further reason for you to remain," added Draco

Hermione's head snapped up and she stared at Draco, "What?"

"You heard me," he snapped.

"You don't have to be uncivil," she snapped back.

"I didn't think I was being uncivil," he replied with an icy tone, "I was simply requesting that you leave as the one person you came to see is not here as you have already discerned. I have answered the questions you have posed, so I see no further reasons for you to remain here in my presence."

Hermione was puzzled by his sudden reaction. "What, can't I speak with you?"

Draco took a deep breath to calm himself a little before he responded. "You made it more than clear the last time you were here exactly what your opinion is of me, so if you would be so kind, you may leave at any time. You don't need to subject yourself to my presence any longer."

Hermione shook her head for a moment and then turned to face him, and spoke with a pleading tone. "What if I realized that I may have misjudged you?"

Draco sneered in response, "You don't need to placate my feelings, Granger."

Hermione nearly scoffed at his retort. "Wow, that's a big word for you, Malfoy."

Draco sneered again, "I figured I might need to use big words for you to make sure you understood what I said. Wouldn't want you thinking any less of me than you already do."

By now they were both standing up and facing each other. The tension in the room was palpable and growing by the moment.

Hermione bit her lip. "Would it help if I said I'm sorry?"

Draco felt a little confused and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "What do you need to apologise for Granger?"

Hermione tried to avert her eyes from his but she couldn't manage to do that. "Telling you that I hated you," she said softly, trying to hold back any tears.

"I'm a big boy, Granger. I've had people hating me almost all of my life," he replied. "Actually, there have probably been those who have hated me since before I was born just because of my family name. So I think it's going to take a little more than some witch who I hardly know telling me she hates me to get under my skin. But if it will help you sleep better at night, I accept your apology. So, once again, you are still free to leave."

Hermione was surprised that she felt that his words actually stung. She wondered why she would allow herself to be bothered by anything that he said. "Why? You seem to be trying to get rid of me."

Draco started to turn away from her. "We have nothing further to speak about, so I see no reason for your continued presence, unless you have some knowledge of when your friend is going to return."

Hermione was becoming irritated with Draco. "You don't have to be rude."

Draco turned back around and took another step closer towards her. "Me? Rude? I wasn't the one who professed their hatred for the other now, was I?" He was silently cursing himself for letting his voice get louder, a good Slytherin shouldn't allow their emotions to get the better of them like this.

Hermione was trying to hold back tears. "That was something I never should have said!"

Draco was working on calming himself. "Perhaps, but you said it, and I dare say you know you meant it."

Hermione felt like screaming at him. "You infuriate me!"

Draco managed to smirk at her again. "Apparently I have that effect on people from time to time."

Hermione let out a muffled scream.

Draco let out a slight laugh in response. "I'm surprised your boyfriend never caused you to react like this."

Hermione looked up at Draco. "What boyfriend?"

Draco simply responded, "The Weasel."

Hermione gave him a blank look before replying, "Why would you say that? And besides it isn't any of your business."

Draco realised he must have touched on a raw nerve. "Why? Because he was never your type. He was lazy, you clearly never were. He was a pig, you were fastidious. He was uncouth, you at least had taste, well, until it came to him." Draco paused a moment before he continued, noticing that he had her rapt attention. "I always wondered if you were ever checked for compulsion charms, that would have been the only thing that I could ever think of that would have ever drawn you to him. Unless of course it was a matter of what muggles would call transference."

Hermione was surprised by his comment. "What do you know about transference?"

Draco simply smirked.

Hermione stepped up to Draco and got into his face. "Well, Malfoy, what do you know about it?"

Draco continued to smirk. "You don't want to hear my theory."

Hermione continued to wait on his response. "I am all ears," she said as she planted her hands on her hips stepping closer to him.

Draco shook his head. "Fine, but you don't really want to hear it."

Hermione started to impatiently tap her foot. "I'm waiting"

Draco sighed and then he began to explain. "You were secretly in love with Potter, but for some reason that was an unrequited love. Maybe he didn't return the feelings or you realized that the relationship would never work, so you settled for the closest thing: his best friend."

Hermione's jaw dropped, "That's about the stupidest thing I ever heard!"

Draco smiled back at her. "Hit that close to home, did it?"

She slapped him.

Draco didn't even flinch.

He noticed a tear in her eye.

Draco spoke softly to her. "I really did hit the mark. Are you still fooling yourself with Weasley."

Hermione was trying to hold back her tears. "No, I broke it off with him before I even went to Australia."

Draco spoke softly, "Good, that was smart."

Hermione looked up at him, "Why do you care?"

Draco didn't answer her.

Hermione spoke again. "I asked you, why do you care?"

On impulse, Draco leaned forward, reached behind her with his hands and pulled her into and embrace and kissed her full on the lips.

She started to kiss him back before she pushed him away. "What the hell, Malfoy!"

He stood there, staring at her. "Tell me you didn't enjoy that on some level."

Hermione glared at him. "Why the hell did you do that?"

Draco shrugged his shoulders, "Because I've been wanting to try that for months."

Hermione was stunned. She felt she needed to pinch herself, or else she was being pranked something awful. She looked back at Malfoy and asked incredulously, "What?"

Draco had a hard time finding the right words, then after a minute he answered her question. "Fine, I'll come out and say it, you're the most beautiful witch I think I've ever seen, and I've been going crazy thinking about you since the day the snatchers brought you to the manor. I've being going spare worrying about you and it's been even worse knowing you hate me." He then turned around and started back towards his room again.

"Draco, wait," she called after him.

He paused, but did not turn around. "What did you say?"

Hermione answered, "I said 'Draco, wait'. Please, don't walk away."

He turned and looked at her.

Hermione stared into his eyes. "You really do care about me?"

"I told you so much in many ways every time you've come here," he tried to explain. "I've apologised as many ways as I know how for the mud-blood stuff. It's hard to change years of thinking, years of what has been taught in my family for generations."

Hermione bit her lip. She wrapped her arms around herself as she shifted back and forth from one foot to another. "You don't _hate_ me?"

Draco sighed as he saw her discomfort. "I've never really hated you. I've hated myself for being jealous of you since first year. I've had to hide my feelings from everyone in my house. If my father, my family ever found out that I liked a mud…that I liked a muggle born, then I would have been disowned, or worse. I never had the strength to stand up to my family. I needed to feel strong and powerful, so I acted like a jerk in front of everyone. And that was cruel."

"Maybe we should go somewhere and talk," she said softly. "I'd take you up on that offer of dinner if it still stands, or lunch or whatever…if you'd accept my apology for my rudeness."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived back at his flat early in the afternoon. He was definitely feeling very confused. Over the summer he clearly had misread signals from Susan. Harry was having fun just hanging out with her, being friends, enjoying the sights, while Susan was apparently falling for him, becoming very interested in being boyfriend-girlfriend and she had assumed he and felt the same way.

Well, now he knew exactly how Susan felt, and what she wanted. The problem was he also now knew exactly what Daphne wanted. Harry realised he had never been in such a position before, having not just one, but two beautiful women interested in him, and also making it clear to him that they liked him. And both women made it clear that they liked him for who he was, not any of this Boy-Who-Lived crap either.

Harry started to pace back and forth in his apartment while he was thinking about what he needed to do. He had enjoyed kissing Susan. And she was wonderful. They did speak for sometime after she kissed him at the park. She wasn't pressuring him at all. She understood that he might need some time to sort out his own feelings. Harry could tell she was a little sad at Harry not returning her feelings immediately, but she was also able to see that this summer was the first time in Harry's life that he was having a summer where he wasn't worrying about someone attacking him or having to deal with his horrid muggle relatives.

As he was walking around his flat he suddenly realised that no one else was there. He wondered where Draco was, but then again, his flat mate wasn't in the habit of telling him what he was up to, he didn't think much more about it. Harry sat down and contemplated his situation. He had two very pretty girls, no women, who were both attracted to him, and he was definitely attracted to the both of them. He felt his heart starting to race and he was feeling as though he was becoming more anxious about the whole situation.

Harry decided that he needed to do something to clear his mind, to think about this more carefully, and sitting here in his flat in the middle of London wasn't helping him any. He went into his room and grabbed his broom, and shrunk it down and put it in his pocket just in case he decided to use it. As he was about to leave, he decided to leave a quick note for Draco.

_Went out to clear my head, trying to figure out what to do about Susan and Daphne, - H_

A moment later Harry apparated away.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Daphne has gone back to her apartment and showered and cleaned up from her ordeal from the night before. She ended up calling in to her job as a receptionist and explaining that she was feeling under the weather. It was now early in the afternoon and she had managed to fix herself some tea and sit back and relax and consider every thing that had happened recently. She was about to take a sip of her tea when there was a knock at her door. Cursing under her breath for being disturbed she got up to answer the door.

Daphne was more than a little surprised to open the door and have her younger sister nearly bounce into her flat.

"Hey Daph," she said cheerfully, "what are you doing home today? You know, dad has discovered where you are, or rather, where you've been working. Speaking of which, like I just asked, why aren't you at work?"

Daphne cursed under her breath. "Why don't you come in Astoria? Oh, you already did."

Astoria ignored her sister's comments. "You know, Dad's meeting with your boss, he's discussing business issues. I think he said he has threatened some dealings that may put him out of business, well not directly to his face, at least I don't think he did, at least not yet."

Daphne tried to remain calm. "What business is it of father's?"

Astoria just smiled. "He's still angry at you backing out of the betrothal contract when you disappeared earlier this summer."

Daphne glared at no one in particular, "That was a horrid contract and you know it."

Astoria just shrugged her shoulders. "He know's it too, but he feels he doesn't have many options, he's trying to save the family name and the family business. You know that. Or at least you told me you understood that before you left." Astoria slid into a seat in the middle of the flat.

Daphne was pacing around the room. "What if I find away to save the family name _and_ the family business without him forcing either one of us into a betrothal against our will?"

Astoria sighed, "There's no way that's ever going to happen. What wizard would allow such an arrangement?"

Daphne's eyes lit up, "Tell father I am actively working on a plan…"

Astoria sat up and her eyes narrowed, "I will NOT lie to father."

Daphne smiled, "You wouldn't be lying."

Astoria's expression did not change, "I won't participate in a fabrication or a prank. I'm not in Slytherin, I'm in Ravenclaw."

Daphne stopped and looked pointedly at her younger sister. "Astoria, I am seriously working on something that could quite possibly work out for everyone, myself included. And it would leave you free to pursue a relationship based solely on love and desire, not on family name or the good of the family business."

Astoria shook her head. She understood the pure-blood ways and what would be required for such a thing. "But there is no way…"

Daphne cut her off mid sentence. "Astoria, hush. I am actively working on this, I will say nothing more at this time. If it works, of course I will let you know. If it doesn't I will let father know and I will allow him to plan what he needs to. I will still do what needs to be done so you at least can have a future based on love."

Astoria looked at her sister with sorrow in her eyes, "You can't do that, that's not fair to you."

Daphne shook her head. "I can try and do what is right, and if this works, I will be as content as can be. Now, run back to mother and father, and tell him of my proposal. If things go well, then you will hear of it soon enough. And everyone will be satisfied. Trust me on this."

Astoria was shocked by her sister's words. She couldn't figure out what her sister could possibly be planning. "Fine, but you do know what tomorrow is, don't you?"

Daphne's expression softened as she hugged her sister gently. "Yes, I do, and you're heading off to school for your 6th year."

Astoria returned the hug and stepped back. "Yes, and you should be too, you should return for one more year."

Daphne scoffed, "Why is that? I already did my seventh year."

Astoria pouted slightly, "Some of your classmates are returning."

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "Like I should care."

"Pansy and Millicent and Theodore are returning," added Astoria.

Daphne was not impressed as she repeated her question, "And like I said before, why should I care?"

Astoria ignored the irritation in her sister's voice, "They've been asking about you."

Daphne tilted her head slightly to one side, "And what did you tell them?"

Astoria simply replied, "That I had no idea where you were."

"Thanks Tori," replied Daphne as she hugged her sister once again.

Astoria smiled before she asked her next question, "Now what am I supposed to tell them when they undoubtedly ask about you the next time I see them?"

Daphne sighed, "Tell them anything. Tell them I am working on securing my future, that ought to keep those pure-blood sycophants satisfied for at least a little while without telling them anything truly important"

Astoria pouted for a moment, and then Daphne added, "Do me a favour, and try not to get too involved in anything that group is doing."

Astoria was puzzled by this comment as she commented, "I thought they were your friends."

Daphne looked at her sister carefully, "They were my classmates, they were my housemates, they were my associates, but never were those people my friends. I was sorted into Slytherin. You, my precious little sister, have been fortunate to be in Ravenclaw, you should understand there is a difference. Pleas, do not force the issue."

Astoria was about to protest, "But the war is over."

Daphne sat down in a chair across from where Astoria had been sitting. "Ideologies do not change just because the battle was lost. Did you not read the paper? Some people are still fighting the war."

Astoria thought about the article from the Daily Prophet. "Those people are just going after Potter, what do you or I have to worry about?"

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Tori, just bring the message back to mother and father that I gave to you earlier. It was good to see you, really. But I do need to get some things sorted out."

Astoria looked at her sister. Before she left she asked her sister one final question, "Is everything all right, I mean really okay? You wouldn't be hiding anything from me? You haven't gotten yourself in trouble have you?"

Daphne smiled, "I am fine Astoria, I'm a big girl and I know how to take care of myself. And like I said, I am working on trying to arrange things with a prominent and respected household. But it still may take some time." She gave her sister a final hug before ushering her out the door and on her way.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

The tall man entered the warehouse and made his way tot he back room. Upon arriving at his destination he spoke to the man in the shadows who was obviously waiting on him. "So, you have a name for yourself now, the Shadow Lord?"

The man in the shadows replied, "It seems to fit. Do you have the information?"

The tall man replied simply, "Crabbe was a fool, while he found where they worked, he did not find where they lived."

The Shadow Lord nodded, "That much is certain. So, do you have anything useful then?"

The man grinned, "I have been able to track Granger. The mud-blood may be able to lead us to them."

"Good, good," said the Shadow Lord, a smile barely perceptible. "Perhaps there is a use for her kind after all. Meanwhile, Travers has been gathering more information for me on the others."

The man smiled again. "Is there anything else for now?"

"The other two have proven useless, as they managed to get themselves caught at Potter's place that the Blood Traitor Black had willed to him," explained the Shadow Lord. "But that has proven to be of little value anyway as he has not returned there since last fall. However, we may be getting some new recruits. The students are returning to school. There are those who still hold to the old ideals. Defeat at the hands of the scarred one has not caused everyone to give up hope in the old ways. We have our own assets in place to begin recruiting from within the school and to gather more information, and if necessary, to gain extra leverage. So, patience, my friend, patience, we cannot move too quickly, but we will have our revenge."

The man nodded, "Those are wise words."

The Shadow Lord simply nodded, "Yes, now you had mentioned Granger. Has she been marked yet? Can I track her? Can you track her?"

A simple nod was given in response. "She has not been hard to find with her movements in and out of the magical world. We can start to follow her movements any time."

"Very good," acknowledged the Shadow Lord. "Then perhaps my plans can start to unfold." His smile turned into a laugh, and then his laugh turned into a brief spasm of coughing.

"Now, begone, and find the mud-blood, track her, and complete the first part of your mission," he added once his coughing had stopped.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Hermione and Draco arrived back at the flat. They stood outside the door next to each other. Hermione bit her lip and pulled Draco's arm back away from the doorknob.

Draco looked down at her hand holding back his arm and then up at her face. "Don't tell me that after what happened earlier and spending time talking over things over lunch that all of a sudden you're embarrassed about our relationship."

"No, it's not that, Draco," she said as shifted on her feet. "What if Harry isn't comfortable with our being together? I know he's being getting used to being with you. But it's not like you're exactly best mates. It seems to me that it's more like a mutual tolerance. Harry has been and always will be my best friend. It may not be important to you, but his approval means a lot to me."

Draco stepped back and leaned against the wall next to the door. "I get it, I do. But I can't help how Harry is going to feel about this. If this feels right between you and I, isn't that what really matters? If you and I can come this far in our relationship, I would think that the Gryffindor Golden Boy should be able to grow up enough and deal with that. Who knows, maybe someday he might even consider dating a Slytherin himself."

Hermione let out a big sigh, "I sure hope so." Then she looked at the door and then back at Draco. "Hopefully he's back from dealing with his own girl problems."

Draco rolled his eyes. "One never knows with Potter." He then reached for the doorknob and looked back at Hermione, "Can we go in now?"

Hermione grinned at him as she slapped him on the shoulder, "Yes you prat."

Draco opened the door and let Hermione in. Hermione led the way and called out for Harry. There was no reply and they made their way into flat and looked around. Draco commented "It looks like he's not here, he's probably still dealing with his girl problems."

Hermione was the first one to find the note on the kitchen counter. She called Draco over as she read the note.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked at Draco, "Susan and Daphne? Is there something you haven't been telling me about Harry?"

Draco paled at the question as he took the note from her hand. "I've told you the truth all along. You just never asked for anyone's names."

Hermione's eyes showed she was starting to get angry with her new boyfriend. "Your repeated comments made it sound like he was dating muggle girls."

Draco was back peddling quickly, "My comments made no such distinction. Although, Harry did meet them both quite by accident here in Muggle London. And he is trying to sort things out with both of them."

Hermione pressed further, "So this does refer to Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass, then."

Draco gulped, "That would be a yes. Harry met up with Susan quite by accident early in the summer. They've been visiting sights around London all summer. Harry thought they were just friends, spending time together, just having fun. Apparently Susan thought it was becoming something more."

Hermione nodded in understanding, "Harry can be that way, he doesn't always realise the affect he has on girls around him. So, what happened with Daphne?"

Draco felt a little more sure of himself now, "What I told you earlier was the truth. He and Daphne had been meeting up to go dancing on and off for a while. Well, last night, he was late in meeting up with her, and apparently some muggles drugged her, and were planning to take advantage of her. So, once Harry showed up and figured out what was going on, you can imagine how he reacted. Once he rescued her, he had no idea where she lived, so he brought her back her. But of course, with the old Potter luck, Daphne came out of the bedroom wearing not much more than one of his T-shirts just as Susan showed up to go to the park with Harry. You can probably guess what happened from there."

Hermione sat down as she almost cried for her best friend. "Oh, no, poor Harry, tries to do the right thing and it seems everything goes wrong."

Draco just laughed. "Well, the last I knew, I tried to patch things up with Susan, they made arrangements to meet mid morning. Then he came back in and Daphne snogged him silly. So, I'm pretty sure his mind is quite confused right now."

Hermione pondered what Draco had said. "Do you think we should go look for him?"

Draco shrugged, "Wouldn't know, you're his best friend and I'd have no idea where he might have gone."

Hermione started pacing the room. Draco just watched as she walked back and forth. She started to bite gently on one of her knuckles. "Well, maybe we can wait here for a little while, and if he doesn't show up, then maybe we should go look for him."

Draco shook his head, "You worry about Harry way too much."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Earlier, when Harry had left his apartment he had apparated to just outside of Godric's Hollow. He had not returned since the Christmas time when he and Hermione and been there and ended up being attacked by Nagini and he his original wand had been broken. Harry made his way towards the graveyard and he easily found his parents' grave stones. He knelt down in front of them and quietly stayed there for several minutes.

Finally he started to speak to his parents out loud. "I don't know if you can hear me at all, but it seems I've found myself in another mess. It may not be quite the same as facing Tom Riddle, but it may be almost as dangerous. I'm sure you'd think it was a wonder flu prank, Dad, but I wouldn't want to disappoint you, Mum. You see, I've got these two beautiful girls, or I guess I should say young women. They both like me and I like them both. I didn't mean to lead either one of them on, and now it seems that I need to make some sort of a decision. Being the young Lord Potter-Black is not an easy thing to do. I still don't even know what that really means, to be a Lord. Hell, I'm Lord of two different houses, so I guess I got you beat there, Dad. Sirius is probably laughing somewhere about that, thinking that it is some sort of grand prank he pulled on me, making me a Lord of a second house."

Suddenly Harry's eyes went wide. The thought of being a Lord of a second house made him wonder what that really meant. He knew he would have two seats on the Wizengamot, but what else did this mean? Did the goblins know? Did the ministry know? Did anyone know? Had this ever happened before? Surely he wouldn't have been the first Lord to be the head of more than one house before. Then Harry started to thinking about the two women. Susan was the last of the Bones family for all he knew. And Daphne, from what he recalled, she only had a sister, and he thought from what he recalled she was also from a prominent family.

Harry stood up and started pacing around the graveyard. It occurred to him that this while situation was potentially much more complicated than he ever dreamed of, and he may have no idea what he might be getting himself into. Now he just had to find someone who might have some answers or at least some clue as where to begin to find some answers. It may not help him figure out what to do about matters of the heart, because for right now, he was still drawn to both of the beautiful women and he had no idea of how we could possibly decide between the two of them.

He looks back towards the village of Godric's Hollow. "Well, I guess it's unavoidable, I will have to go speak with someone, and since I have nowhere else to start…" with that thought there was a slight popping sound as he disappeared from the graveyard.

A moment later Harry appeared in an alley across from the muggle entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. He smiled to himself as he remembered that this was almost the exact spot where he ran into Susan just a couple of months ago. Harry looked around and then crossed the road and made his way quickly to the magical pub. He hesitated before he entered the pub, casting a quick disillusionment charm on himself so as not to be bothered by anyone who might be there as he made his way through to Diagon Alley. He was glad he did as he was sure that the crowded pub would have had more than a few people who would have called out to him, even if it was only to thank him for defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named one more time, or some such thing. He didn't bother to look around to see if he recognised anyone himself. He tapped the bricks as quickly as he could to make his way into the alley, and from there he proceeded to head to Gringott's Bank. With a simple wave of his hand he cancelled the disillusionment charm as he crossed the threshold of the bank and he made his way to a teller and asked to speak with Ragnok.

The goblin teller barely looked up from what he was doing and just growled, "Who do you think you are wizard, Harry Potter, that you can just walk right in and expect to speak with Ragnok?"

"Well, actually, I _am_ Harry Potter," he said quietly.

The goblin was about to growl again when he looked up and saw that yes indeed, he was face to face with Harry Potter. "My apologies, Lord Potter-Black, I will see if the Director is available to meet with you now."

The goblin hopped down off of his chair and hurried away. His quick movements were unusual for a goblin and this caught the attention of all of the other goblins in the lobby and even some of the witches and wizards who were present. Suddenly the entire lobby fell silent as everyone seemed to realise just who was present in the bank. Harry realised that everyone, including the bank employees, were all staring at him. The teller returned in less than a minute and bowed his head slightly in front of Harry. "Director Ragnok has indicated that he does indeed have time to meet with you now, Lord Potter-Black," said the goblin, "so, if you would please follow me."

Harry acknowledged the goblin with a slight incline of his head and followed right behind the teller turned messenger.

A few minutes later Harry found himself sitting with the director of Gringott's Bank once again.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

After waiting for a while, Hermione had been growing increasingly impatient. Hermione finally voiced her opinion, "I think that at least one of us should go and look for Harry."

Draco replied with his own concern, "Where would we even look?"

Hermione stood up and looked directly into Draco's eyes as she told him, "I think I know the first place to go look."

Draco wondered as he looked back into her brown eyes, "Where would that be?"

Her response sounded as simple as if she was explaining the answer to a first year yes question, "Godric's Hollow."

Draco stepped back a moment, surprised. "But why would he go there? Seems kind of morbid to me."

Hermione shook her head, "You don't understand Harry the way I do. We went there once while we were hunting…while we were on the run from the Death Eaters. He wanted to visit his parent's gravesite. He said in his note he wanted to clear his mind. That would be the place he would go, to have a chance to talk to his parents about something like this."

Draco felt even more confused. "I didn't know that Harry could talk to the dead. Is he as weird as Lovegood and I didn't even know it?"

Hermione slapped him on the shoulder. "No, he can't really talk to his parents, it's something he'll do figuratively. He'll just pretend to do it. It's something that will help him sort things out. Maybe even help him bring closure to things."

Draco nodded his head slowly, "I think I might understand, a little."

Hermione then suggested, "Why don't you wait here, in case he shows up and that's not where he went while I go check out Godric's Hollow. I've been there before with Harry. Besides, like you said earlier, he won't be expecting the two of us showing up together."

Draco leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "Sure, but do be careful."

Hermione returned the kiss briefly. "Hey, I'm _always_ careful."

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

Harry had arrived at Gringotts and was now meeting with Ragnok, the bank director. However, Harry was surprised that Ragnok was not in a pleasant mood. Another goblin had just handed the director several files.

The director looked up at Harry and appeared to be almost apologetic. Harry definitely felt confusion.

Ragnok began the conversation, "I am relieved that you came so quickly, Lord Potter-Black, but my people had not fully completed our investigation as of yet."

Harry was stunned, "What investigation?"

Ragnok was now surprised, "You're not here because of the investigation into the irregularities? Then why are you here today?"

Harry was taken aback. "I had some questions about being the Lord of two separate houses. What irregularities?"

Ragnok actually shifted slightly in his seat. "Let us deal with the issues here first. There had been some reports of a leak of some information. Apparently one of our workers here may have released some information as to the whereabouts of your living arrangements. Rest assured that that information did _not_ contain a specific address, and I can personally assure that individual will never make any mistake again. Apparently there may be one or more wizard who has some general knowledge of where you live or work."

Harry nodded, "I think that wizard was dealt with recently and he will not be causing any trouble for anyone else ever again."

Ragnok raised an eyebrow. "That is the most efficient way to deal with a problem, is it not? We are still investigating some unusual transactions that have been made recently among certain accounts. If these in any way have any bearing on your various accounts, I will be sure to notify you."

"Thank you Ragnok," replied Harry.

Ragnok followed up Harry's comment with a further commentary, "I am not sure how any of your personal information was leaked. As I said we are still investigating such a transgression of our own policies. Such an event is not just unacceptable in our views it is considered a serious act of dishonour upon our kind. We take the situation most seriously and the distrust that it can sew between wizard and goblin we understand can lead to another war. Neither side would like to see it come to that, so I must ask you, Lord Potter-Black, please give us more time to investigate this matter before declaring a feud or worse."

Harry now understood the seriousness of the event, at least from the goblins' point of view. Harry hoped that his patience, which he was very willing to give, could be turned into favours showed him by the goblins.

"I think that I can temper my reaction long enough to see what further information you discover, Ragnok," Harry replied. "However, as I said I do have information I need about my own houses, information that has not been easy for me to obtain even from my own Ministry of Magic. Over the years, many of the Ancient and Noble Houses have not always trusted the Ministry and from what I have learned, have kept many of their own documents here within their vaults, safeguarded by the goblin nation. What I need is information about House Potter and House Black. Are there particular rules or customs that I must follow as the Lord of these two houses, particularly as I am the last member of House Potter and almost the last member of House Black?"

Ragnok sat back in his chair. "That is information that we may be able to help with to some extent, but I can tell you now that we will not be able to help you will all of it."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You are certain of this already?"

Ragnok smiled thinly. "We have kept track of many of the rules, the old rules that govern the old houses. The reasons for this have to do with the longevity of the goblins as a race and our keeping the vaults in which your kind store your most prized possessions. However, the House of Black, they always required that the Rules of House Black be reviewed by a human, and never by a 'lesser creature,' so while we have a tome that lists all of the rules that would answer your questions, we are not permitted to use it. You would need to find a solicitor who would be able to assist you with this endeavour."

Harry almost felt defeated, wondering where he could find such a trustworthy solicitor. Then he recalled that Andromeda Tonks was a solicitor, or at least he thought she was.

Ragnok asked him, "Do you have a solicitor or an attorney?"

"I do believe that I may be able to use Madam Andromeda Tonks," Harry replied.

Ragnok raised an eyebrow. "I am aware that she has an appointment here on some other business tomorrow, if she is available, I can request that she meets with you then."

Harry smiled, "That would be very much appreciated, it has been too long since I have seen Andy." Then Harry added, "Can copies of the Rules for House Black and the Rules for House Potter be provided to her so she can review them, to see if there are any particular issues that I need to be concerned about?"

"That can be arranged, my Lord Potter-Black," replied Ragnok, feeling relieved that he had been able to appease this young man and avoid any escalation in the potential conflict.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Hermione arrived at outskirts of Godric's Hollow. She slowly made her way into the town, and she initially felt very uncomfortable as neared the house where Bathilda Bagshot had lived and she and Harry had been attacked by Nagini. She made her way passed the site of Harry's parent's old home, the very place where Harry received his scar. Then she headed out to the gravesite where she figured she would find him. But once she reached the graveyard there was still no sign of her best friend.

Hermione was slightly puzzled, as she was sure that this was where he would come to try and 'clear his mind' as he had stated in his note. Hermione decided that perhaps she had just waited too long and that he either had returned home or he had gone somewhere else. Then she thought she heard a sound behind her and she turned around, hoping that it might be Harry.

Hermione spun around to see someone.

She was definitely surprised to see the person standing in front of her, "You!?"

"Imperio!"


	8. Chapter 8 - September 1

**AN: OK, So I got this chapter done quicker than I expected. In answer to many guesses in reviews or PMs from the last chapter, the person who Hermione turned around and saw right before the end of that chapter was NOT Ron Weasley. This Chapter will make that clear...so this really isn't that much of a spoiler...Thanks for the reviews and the favorites. This chapter is a little shorter, but it kind of needed to end where it does...and I am on vacation so it is surprising I was able to get this posted at all...**

* * *

**September 1, 1998**

Andromeda Tonks was feeling overwhelmed. Her day had gone from slightly busy to making her wonder how much more could she fit on her plate in just a brief amount of time. Sitting across from her was none other than Harry Potter, and he had with him two rather larger tomes. She looked at both of them, one of which she thought she would never see, the other she never expected she would ever have cause to see.

She shook her head as she tried to come to grips with what he was asking. "Harry, this will take a little while, you do know that, don't you?"

Harry gave her a crooked smile, "Andy, I have no idea what's in either of those two books. Hell, I had no idea either of those books existed until Ragnok told me about them. I figured the goblins might know something about the rules of being the head of and ancient and noble house, and I'm not about to ask the ministry, nothing against Shack, but considering the way they've treated me over the years, I really don't want to go there."

Andromeda gave him a smile, "I can certainly understand that, Harry." She looked back at the Rules of House Black tome, and lightly touched it with her fingers, almost expecting that the book would hex her just for touching it.

Harry looked at her and added, "I did bring you back into the family, you know that, don't you."

She turned back to him, "Yes, I do, and thank you, again, for that Harry." She turned back to face the tome. "I think that the rules of House Black would be the most restrictive, but then again, House Potter is an old house and we just might be surprised." She turned back to Harry. "You do have quite the dilemma facing you, and with being the last heir, or more specifically, the last Potter, that may affect everything greatly. And you tell me you have _two_ potential young ladies."

Harry blushed slightly at the comment, "Well, that is a bit of a long story."

Andromeda nodded and smiled at him, "I don't mean to embarrass you, but I do need to know their names, as _their_ backgrounds may affect things based on the family rules."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "I hadn't thought of that."

Andromeda smiled again, "That's why you have me as a solicitor for you, Harry. You let me worry about that while I review all of this for you."

There was an awkward silence for a moment until Harry realised that Andy was still waiting for him to tell her the names of the two girls. "Oh, yeah, the girls, or young women, one is Susan Bones, she was in Hufflepuff, and her aunt was Amelia Bones."

"Yes, I know who Amelia Bones was," said Andromeda as she interrupted Harry. "Susan is definitely of pureblood descent and she is also the last of her family line. That could be important. And who, may I ask, is the other?"

Harry nodded as he listened to what Andromeda was saying, and he realised he hadn't really considered the backgrounds of either of the girls very much other than what house they had been in at Hogwarts. Harry suddenly felt very naive about all of this. "Oh, well, the other girl is Daphne Greengrass, she was in Slytherin in school, I think she may have had a sister. I don't know much else about her family."

Andromeda thought for a moment. "I think, and if I am not mistaken, that her father is Cyrus Greengrass, and that she and her sister have no brothers, and that they may be the only descendants and the last of their line."

Harry wondered aloud, "Does that affect things for either House Potter or House Black?"

"It may or it may not, but it does make a difference for their own houses," explained Andromeda. "I may have to get specific information from the goblins, if they even have it, about the rules for those two houses in particular."

Harry seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea of getting information about either of the girls' families.

Andy picked up on this, "Don't worry Harry, we would only be asking for information that would be easily available, not asking for family secrets."

Harry seemed to relax at this.

Andromeda leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath and then gave Harry a serious look. "I do have something I need to share with you though," she added. "Kingsley came by recently to speak with me. He wanted to know if I knew where you were. He's worried about you. I'm sure you're aware that there are those who are looking for you, and they don't just want to say 'hi'. I won't be his spy for him, or for anyone else, Harry. You're my grandson's godfather, you're family, you're the Lord of my House."

Harry was moved by what she said, "I trust you Andy, and I thank you for sharing that with me."

"There's more Harry," she added, "he also wanted me to look into some unusual transactions going on at Gringotts. So I will be busy with that as well as delving into these tomes. You're my first priority though. And no, I haven't broken any ministry secrets by telling you this because Shack came here unofficially to speak with me, and as I said, you're my head of house, so my loyalty is with you first."

Harry smiled, "That means a lot to hear you say that. This being the head of house is new to me, I guess I really don't know what that all means just yet."

"It doesn't mean that much for House Potter yet when you're the only Potter in the world right now," she added with a laugh. "You do have a place on the Wizengamot, actually two. You might even get multiple invitations to balls and special events if some people aren't careful because of your two titles. Officially your godson is a Lupin, he isn't related to you, and you haven't made him an heir. You have two houses, two potential girl friends, and lots to deal with. I know Teddy isn't your flesh and blood, so I wouldn't expect you to name him as an heir to one of your houses or titles, but let me look over the rules first. And I don't expect you to set up an inheritance for him. Ted and I have arranged for him to have plenty. He'll be okay, I don't want you to feel like he's your responsibility. I know you better than you think I do, Harry."

Harry felt a little relieved, and he honestly felt more than a little guilty about not being around to help out with Teddy. "I really don't know what to say, Andy. I'm only 18, my only experience in life seems to revolve around fighting dark wizards, not being a parent, and I wouldn't know what to do with Teddy. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do as a godfather."

Andromeda smiled at Harry. "Be there when he needs you as he gets older. When he really needs a father figure to do something with him that I can't, I'll send him your way. I know you need to get yourself settled. And right now, it seems someone is still out to get you, and keeping Teddy out of harms way is the best thing to do, so I don't mind. Besides, it helps me to have him around, I do miss Dora and even Remus."

Harry was about to ask how she was doing after the loss of Ted, but he could see she already had tears forming in her eyes and he realised that would be a bad thing to do at this time.

Andromeda then suggested that Harry should go get some lunch, and she would make a quick review of the rules from both books.

Harry was shocked, "You can read both large tomes that quickly?"

Andromeda laughed, "No, but there are certain sections that I know I need to review, and they are not that large, so why don't you meet me back here in a couple of hours and I'll update you on what I find."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**Susan Bones' Apartment**

A knock came at the door and Susan was hoping that Harry at come by to see her as she didn't have to work this evening. She opened the door and her smile and mood deflated rapidly.

"Hello Daphne," she said cooly.

"Hello Sue, do you mind if I come in?" She didn't wait for an answer as she walked past her former classmate. "We need to talk."

"Oh, do we?" Susan's tone was still icy.

"Yes, we do, we have a problem and it is the same problem," added Daphne, ignoring Susan's cold tone.

Susan sat down and waited for Daphne to say more.

Daphne let out a quiet sigh as she looked at Susan. "Look, Susan, I know this isn't easy. For a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, I thought we got along pretty well back in school, we had a number of classes together in the later years."

Susan nodded, "Yes, we did, and for the record, you were actually rather nice to some of us, despite your reputation for being rather unpleasant towards some of the boys."

Daphne smirked, "Only towards certain boys who were too forward with their attention to me. And by the way, it worked pretty well to keep them at bay. But the point is, when we were in school and in classes together, I thought we got along together, you were smart, and like a good Hufflepuff, I could tell you were always a good friend to those you cared about."

Susan let out a deep breath, "Fine, so I can be a good friend. Now please get to the point of why you're really here."

"I know how you feel about Harry, and I know neither one of us wants to give him up," said Daphne, plainly putting things out on the table.

Susan became even more suspicious of the former Slytherin. She just stared at Daphne waiting for something more to be said.

Daphne noted the look and she continued, "What if we don't have to?"

Susan was surprised by that comment. "Excuse me?"

"There are old pure-blood traditions," explained Daphne.

"Very old, yes," agreed Susan.

"So, you are at least familiar with them," continued Daphne.

"Vaguely," admitted Susan.

"Tell me Susan, how many other Bones' are there," asked Daphne.

"I'm the last of the line, and I would think that you already knew that," stated Susan, realising where Daphne was heading with this reasoning.

Daphne simply smiled before she added, "I thought so."

Susan wanted to be sure she understood the Slytherin's plan, "Where are you going with this?"

"My sister and I are the last of the Greengrass line, there are _no_ male heirs," she explained.

Susan's attention was suddenly more focused.

"Two ancient families are about to die out, three if you count Potter and Harry doesn't do anything about it," added Daphne with an air of sadness in her voice.

"Oh, I think he ultimately plans to do something about it," commented Susan with a seriousness in her tone.

"Do you really think that Harry, who grew up among muggles who abused him," added Daphne, "who was sheltered from the truths and the customs of our culture by Dumbledore has the slightest clue as to the gravity of the situation, for you, for me, or even for himself?"

"Or for the Blacks," added Susan.

Daphne blinked, "Excuse me?"

"He is also Lord Black," explained Susan, "did you not know that yet?"

"That makes it even more important then," commented Daphne, feeling her head begin to spin as she contemplated what this extra information implied. "That may make things more complicated or it may make them even easier."

Susan raised an eyebrow in response. "I'm not sure I follow you."

"You know how noble Harry is," added Daphne.

"Of course," stated Susan, trying to tone down the sarcasm in her initial response, "it's why he rescued you the other night. It's why he did everything he did while we were at Hogwarts. It's simply who he is."

Daphne looked Susan in the eye, "Would Harry let a house die out if he knew he was responsible for it?"

"No, he would make sure he met his obligations and took care of his responsibilities, as I said, that's just who Harry is," answered Susan.

Daphne sat back and let those words sink in for a moment. "Susan, I'm not sure that Harry realises it, but it could be that there really isn't a competition between us. A lot of things may depend on House Potter and House Black, and you already knew he had two houses. Things will also depend on what Harry makes of House Bones and House Greengrass. There are four houses with lines at stake here. You know it, and I know it, but dear Harry who was raised by muggles may be too clueless to have any idea what's really going on, what's really important."

Susan looked warily at Daphne, whom she still considered a rival, "So, you want to be the one to tell him he needs two girlfriends?"

"Hardly," laughed Daphne, "telling him that outright might just make him panic. But considering he's almost been acting like he has two girlfriends for the past couple of months _and_ it hasn't killed him makes me think he just might be able to handle it."

"What if I can't handle it? I don't think I want a three way relationship," added Susan, still feeling irritated.

Daphne shook her head. "Who said anything about us? We're talking about Harry here. You and Harry, Harry and me; this is about him, not about us. Until a few days ago, both of us were fine with Harry."

Susan still wasn't sure what to think. Daphne could read the doubt on her face. Finally she added, "Look into the Rules of House Bones, see what you find out about your own situation. Then talk to me some more. We don't have to hate each other."

Daphne got up to leave and Susan carefully looked around the room and behind her back. Daphne raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"

Susan sighed and then smiled, "Daphne, I want to believe you, but you're still from the House of Slytherin. I'm just looking for the knife you're about to leave in my back."

Daphne slumped her shoulders slightly. "Susan, I hope that someday you'll be able to learn to trust me. Back when we were at school, I thought we were friends and that you could trust me."

Susan smiled weakly, "That was when we studied together, long before we were both interested in the same boy."

Daphne smiled slightly, "Don't fool yourself, I saw the way you've looked at Harry ever since second year."

Susan blushed slightly then she thought about Daphne's words as she walked away. "Wait a minute Daphne, did you just admit that you've liked him since then too?"

Daphne smirked as the door was closing behind her, "Susan, I was in Slytherin, of course I _never_ could have liked Harry Potter, that would have been _so_ wrong back then." She winked at Susan as the door finally closed and then she turned and left with a smile on her face.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**Hogwarts Express**

Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson had a compartment all to themselves. Very few students would come in and speak with them, although occasionally they would venture out by themselves and see others on the train, making brief stops into other compartments, chatting with other students, and not just with other Slytherins.

If asked later, the students would all easily recall that the conversations all seemed to be about anything other than the recent war. In fact everyone returning to Hogwarts or going to the school for the first time were excited about the new school year. The atmosphere was one of hope. A hope for a school year filled with excitement, and without fear.

Those students who were returning to repeat their seventh years were regaling the younger students with tales of Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Won. Rumours and half truths were as good as first hand eyewitness accounts to many of the new students. The older students recalled the stories of how Harry defeated a troll as a mere first year, how he seemed to be able to control snakes as a second year, how he reportedly defeated over one hundred dementors as a third year.

While many students didn't believe all of those tales, they all wanted to hear about his prowess at playing seeker, how he could handle a broom unlike any other wizard, perhaps even better than famous international Quidditch star Viktor Krum. His amazing skills that were evident from the first time he got on a broom as a first year, and how he became the youngest seeker in over a century at Hogwarts. The stories of his greatest Quidditch matches over the years. 'Was it true he once caught a snitch with his mouth?' 'My brother told me he pulled off a Wronski Feint!' 'Is it true he was attacked by a rogue bludger?' 'My older sister said he was attacked by dementors while playing one time!'

And then there were the stories of how he out flew a dragon during the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Then they went on to tell how he rescued multiple hostages during the second task of the tournament. Then of course came the questions about the third and final task. Everyone knew that Harry won the tournament, and that the Diggory boy and died, and that supposedly the Dark Lord returned at the end of the tournament. The ministry initially claimed it was a lie, but by the time Potter's fifth year was over, Harry's story was proven true, for by then the war had started.

Some students told stories of how Harry taught them in the secret class, the DA. Others told stories of the Battle of Hogwarts, and how he defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But everyone spoke about how he seemed to have disappeared since then. Well, that was until he was attacked in muggle London by a rogue Death Eater and everyone had read about that in the Daily Prophet.

Part way through the trip, a door opened into a compartment where three Ravenclaw 6th year girls were catching up after being away from school over the summer.

"Hey, there you are Greengrass," stated the older girl who walked in, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Hi Pansy," Astoria said as she returned the greeting. The other two girls tried to fade into their seats at the presence of the girl who was notorious for her participation in the Inquisitorial Squad from three years prior and in working with the Carrows from just a year ago.

"So, how come Daphne didn't come back to school this year?" she asked as she sat down on the bench next to the younger Greengrass sister.

Astoria was trying her best not to irritate Parkinson but also not to give away any information she had. "Daphne just up and disappeared, it's been hard to have any contact with her since then. What little I have heard from her was a brief and vague message about trying to secure her future. I really have no idea what she even meant by that."

Pansy sat back and laughed. "Oh my! That's wonderful! Such a Slytherin girl she really is that Daphne. She's working on latching on to someone, probably a rich old man and she plans to steal all of his money. I mean inherit all of his money." Pansy's eyes were glowing with excitement. "No wonder we haven't heard a thing from her!" Pansy turned back to Astoria, "The next time you speak with Daphne, you give her a message for me. I think the muggle phrase is 'You Go Girl!' That about sums it up." She then looked at the other two girls in the compartment with Astoria and quickly sized them up. She didn't recognise either of their families as being particularly old so she figured it wouldn't be worth the risk to try and talk up the Shadow Lord so she decided to move on.

After she left Astoria breathed a big sigh of relief and her two friends just shook their heads in disgust.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

The "Abandoned" Warehouse

The Shadow Lord had returned to his warehouse 'hideout' after his little mission of the day before. It was one of the few times he had actually left his little 'hideout' to do his own work. His new 'puppet' had been given their orders, but he didn't want to rush that plan too quickly. It needed time to develop, like a good pot of tea or perhaps a good bottle of wine. Yes, he would savour the moment that particular plan came to it's forgone conclusion, but he needed to continue getting the rest of his plans in motion. There was still so many areas that needed to be addressed.

He recalled that the Daily Prophet continued to confirm his earlier suspicions, that Potter and Malfoy were somehow linked as they had together taken down Crabbe. He knew that the DMLE had captured the two Death Eaters that he had sent to 12 Grimmauld Place, but all they had managed to glean from them was some vague notion of the Shadow Lord, but he knew they would not be able to give the ministry any truly useful information.

Now he needed to start to gather some more of the Death Eaters who remained at large. The few who had survived the battle and who had been able to remain at large were hearing the rumours of this Shadow Lord, and they had slowly been learning the secret of how to find him. And once they found him, they would each be given their own private mission, unrelated to any other mission, so as not to compromise any of his other plans. So far everything had been going just as he had planned. He did not worry about the demise of Crabbe, because Crabbe was foolish and actually not a very powerful wizard. He was blinded by his rage over his son. But his actions had proven to be useful as it had helped to identify a general location for both Potter and Malfoy. A useful sacrifice was still useful. While Crabbe did have a brilliant idea, he just acted on it too fast, and he was clearly outclassed and unprepared to take on Potter and Malfoy.

The Shadow Lord smiled to himself as he knew that he would also be getting fresh young recruits as he had his youngest converts working on the Hogwarts Express, seeking out possible followers from among the disgruntled children of parents who died during the war who were currently imprisoned. A change in ministry policies would not cause an immediate change in long held ideologies, and he was counting on that to lend him support in his planned revenge against those who stood in the way of the Dark Lord and the things he stood for.

Biding his time, waiting for the opportune moment to strike back and gain his revenge is what he had been doing, and like any good Slytherin, the proper plan of cunning and intrigue could and would wait so as to be most effective.

There was a knock on the door to the warehouse, and the wards allowed the person to enter. The man made his way back to the chamber and approached the Shadow Lord.

"Ah, it is good to see you again, Selwyn. The information you gave me yesterday proved to be quite valuable. The tracking charm on Granger worked perfectly," stated the Shadow Lord. "However, she did recognise me as I cast the Imperius Curse on her."

Selwyn bowed his head, "My lord, I can track her and be rid of her for us if that is your wish."

"Don't be a fool Selwyn," spat the Shadow Lord. "Once under the Imperius Curse it was a simple matter to make her forget who placed her under the curse. She has her orders and she should be carrying them out shortly."

Selwyn raised his head and smiled broadly. "So, it should be finished soon, then?"

The Shadow Lord growled in response, "Nothing is finished! There is still much that needs to be done. Have you contacted the two mercenaries? Have they prepared the little gift offering for tomorrow?"

"That has been arranged, with no connection to us, and everything should go as planned, my Lord," responded Selwyn.

The Shadow Lord looked at him and then dismissed him, "Fine, fine, now leave and make your self scarce for some time. You should not be seen anywhere near England for at least two weeks, and then make sure you are not spotted by anyone from the ministry, especially the DMLE when you make your way back. Follow Potter's lead, live among muggles, travel the muggle way. It may be slower that way, but it will keep you out of the ministry's watchful eye."

Selwyn nodded and silently made his way back out of the warehouse.

The Shadow Lord sat down and rubbed his hand over the scar on the side of his face. "Tomorrow," he said out loud, although he was the only one in his chamber, "tomorrow my revenge begins against those who gave me this scar. And they will never see me coming. They will have no warning. We'll see who is laughing when this is all said and done."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Later that afternoon, Harry returned to meet with Andromeda. "Well, I managed to find some interesting things about both of your houses, Harry," she began.

Harry had been anxiously waiting to hear what she had discovered. "Is this good or bad?"

Andy gave a wry grin, "Well, if we start with House Black, either Sirius had no idea what he was doing when he made you his heir, or this was the biggest prank he could think of before he died."

Harry was startled by this revelation. "What?"

Andromeda sighed as she began to explain, "As heir to both being Lord Potter and Lord Black, there are some difficulties. The houses have some unique rules. The Black Family Charter is quite clear — it will not allow the family to mix."

Harry was confused. "What exactly does that mean?"

Andromeda took a deep breath. "You need separate wives, or at least if you have someone who is to be Lady Black, she cannot have any other titles. She cannot bear children that would be heirs to any other house, but there is one exception to that rule."

Harry was puzzled by what he just heard. "Excuse me, but that does that really mean?"

Andromeda continued and ignored the question, "The interesting thing is the Potter family charter allows for the opposite."

Harry shook his head, "I'm still lost here, Andy."

Andromeda tried to explain more clearly, "If you have multiple titles, it allows you to have one wife and divide the titles among your children, the Black family does not allow you to do that, you can only pass the Black family title through one wife. There is a secondary clause to that, but that is rare."

Harry felt like his head was going to explode as he considered all of this information. "What kind of clause is that?"

"Well, it is perhaps a tertiary clause," she added.

"Huh?"

Andromeda added, "The secondary clause is that the Lady Black has to be a pure-blood."

"What!?" exclaimed Harry. Then after a moment he added, "I guess that should have been a no brainer."

Andromeda tilted her head as she smiled at him, "Hey, I didn't write the family charter, I'm only telling you what the magic within this tome has decreed."

"So, I have to marry a pure-blood," he stated sullenly.

"Yes," agreed Andromeda, and then she continued with the explanation, "and the tertiary clause allows you to name a second or third son as heir to her family line to prevent it from dying out _if_ there are no other heirs in that family, but you cannot continue another family line of your own, such as Potter, through that same wife."

Harry shook his head feeling confused. "That sounds bizarre."

"Yes, it does," agreed Andromeda, "but it may go back to dowry's from of old, or a bride price that may have once been paid, and somehow it must have become part of the magic. It may have simply been put in place to help foster alliances."

Harry wasn't sure what to make of the rule. But it was a rule. And one he apparently didn't have any choice about. "So, if I had two titles, one Potter, and one from another house that wasn't Black, I could have one wife, but since the second house is Black, because of the Black family rules or charter, I have to have a second wife just for the Black family."

Andromeda nodded in agreement, and then she spoke softly, "There is another option. You could choose to let the Black family die out. You could end the line with you." She sat there waiting to see what Harry would do with this new information.

Harry sat still for a few minutes before he asked her, "Could I give the title to someone else who is within the Black family?"

Andromeda considered the question. "That could be done, but there could be serious consequences. First of all, it would possibly bring disgrace to Sirius' memory, dishonour his naming you as his heir. Second, you would be giving up your heritage and all of Black Family possessions. There could be other consequences as well, but it would not be advisable. I would have to research that further within the tome."

"But Sirius gave the title to me," pondered Harry.

"You were his godson," explained Andromeda, "he had a relationship with you. He had no heirs, and you have Black blood in you. That was how he made you his heir and you were accepted as the head of the House of Black."

Harry thought about what she had to say. "So, either I take a separate wife for House Potter and House Black, or I end the line of one of those houses."

Andromeda remained silent for a time before she continued, "It is a curious thing, magic. There are advantages to being Lord Potter and advantages to being Lord Black. Those two houses have never been aligned so closely before in history. Oh, there have been minor alliances in the past, the closest the two houses have ever been was when your grandfather wed Dorea Black. That was a fairly large scandal for the time, and House Potter was considered fairly neutral. But House Black was firmly rooted in Pureblood supremacy, and House Potter had been known to allow their sons to marry muggleborns on more than one occasion."

Harry puzzled over this statement. "But if that were the case, then how would House Black accept me as Lord Black, if I am a half blood?"

Andromeda sat back and pondered this for a moment. "There are three possibilities that come to mind most readily, but I will give you four options to consider." Harry nodded that he was ready to hear her opinions on this matter.

"First, is that Lily, your mother, was not truly a muggle born, but that she was actually a pure-blood but that somehow we did not know her true ancestry. The second option is that at some point Sirius may have done a blood adoption of you, making you his full heir, and thus making you acceptable to the Black family rules of succession. The third option is that due to your deeds of valour in conquering Tom Riddle, that magic itself recognises you to be a powerful enough wizard that you have earned the right to carry the mantle of being named Lord Black."

Harry considered the three options, and realized that there were holes in all three arguments. Then he looked at Andromeda as he asked her, "What was the fourth option you said you would mention?"

Andy laughed as she answered, "Ah, the fourth, that is simply that magic has its own explanation and it is a mystery that we do not know, but yet you have the title and you are recognised as Lord Black. But what matters right now is this Harry: You have control over the wards over 12 Grimmauld Place, the Black ancestral home. Kreacher obeys you as the Head of House. You have access to the Black Family Vaults. You have access to the Black Family Rule Book. You need no further proof, magic itself has accepted you as Lord Black. Why no longer matters, for you **are** Lord Black."

Harry shook his head in bewilderment. "Well, now I still need to deal with the fact that I have two lordships, two potential girlfriends and I need…" His voice trailed off.

Andromeda looked at him and smiled. "Part of your problem may be solved, if the two young ladies can understand your dilemma as well as you do."

Harry held his head in hands. "Why does my life always need to be so complicated?"

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Hogwarts Express

While many students were discussing the fantastic tales of Harry Potter, there were rumours spreading among the students of the former Death Eaters about a new movement led by the mysterious Shadow Lord. The students were being careful to only speak to each other in one on one situations, so as not to draw attention to each other, and they always used the cover of consoling each other over the loss of a family member or concern over a family member being locked away in prison. Many of the students quickly learned that the key individuals to speak with were Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott, but for anyone who was observing these conversations, it was simply close families consoling each other. There was nothing unusual about this cover and as they were not assembling in groups, the professors and the prefects were not becoming suspicious of a developing movement in the upcoming new school year.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived back at his apartment after several meetings with Andromeda Tonks. He was feeling overwhelmed with what he had learned about being both Lord Potter and Lord Black, and he knew he was not ready to meet with either Susan or Daphne. As he walked into the flat he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and then he took a seat on one of the stools at the kitchen bar.

Draco heard him enter and he joined him at the bar with a bottle of water as well. "So, did you figure out who you plan on dating yet?"

Harry glared at Draco, "Things aren't that simple, Draco."

Draco laughed at him, "Things are never simple for you, Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes, "You could say that again."

Draco echoed his previous statement, "Things are never simple for you, Potter."

Harry reached out with his left hand and whacked Draco on the side of his head. "You prat," he called out.

Draco winced and glared back at Harry, "You told me to say it again."

"It's a muggle expression," explained Harry.

Harry glanced over at Draco and then he noticed that his roommate seemed to be looking awful smug. "So, what's up with you?"

Draco took a sip from his water bottle and looked at Harry, "Nothing."

Harry shook his head, "No, come on, something's different, what's going on?"

Draco could tell that Harry wasn't going to let things lie, so he admitted, "Fine, I'm working things out with someone."

Harry grinned, "Wait, you found a girl, who likes you? Who actually likes you?"

Draco smirked in response.

Harry smiled back at his roommate, "Do I need to explain to them everything I know about you?"

Draco laughed, "Too late, I think they already know all that."

Harry paused as he considered the unspoken message. "Are you cutting in on one of my two potential girlfriends while I try and sort things out?"

Draco put down his water bottle. "First of all, NO. Second of all, If I did, you would deserve it for treating them like dirt."

Harry straightened up at that remark. "I'm not treating anyone like dirt, or at least not intentionally."

Draco ignored Harry's protest, "Third, in case the first part wasn't clear, its neither of them."

Harry shook his head again trying to figure out who Draco could possibly be dating. "Draco, I can count, and you don't need to repeat yourself, which tells me you've got it bad for someone whom you claim I know."

"Oh, you know her," he admitted, "and you have to understand, that she's of age, and she is old enough to make her own decisions."

"Fine, fine," said Harry, relenting to his comments, "just tell me what witch in her seemingly right mind would consent to even consider dating you."

Draco then added, "Do me a favour first."

Harry had a confused look on his face.

"Humour me," stated Draco, "put your wand on the table, out of reach, and move to the other side of the room."

Harry stared at Draco, "You know how I feel about being unarmed, especially after the other night."

"All right, I'll put my wand down, too," said Draco, "if that will make you feel better."

The two then placed their wands on the table and stepped backwards.

Harry then asked, "Is this really necessary?"

Harry kept eyeing the table, Draco kept his eyes on Harry and Draco responded to Harry's question "Hopefully not."

Harry finally looked up at Draco, "So why all the drama?"

Draco took a deep breath before quickly stating, "It seems that I've finally managed to hook up with Hermione."

Harry's draw dropped and he just stared for a minute. "Draco, I think we need to get you to St. Mungo's. Have you ever had Dragon Pox? I think you must be delirious. I could have sworn that you just claimed that you've hooked up with Hermione."

The two then sat down in chairs across from each other, with an uneasiness settling over the room

"No, Harry, I'm serious about this," replied Draco, "and I wanted you to hear about it from me first."

Harry shook his head in bewilderment. "That is the most illogical thing I have ever heard, it makes less sense than her and Ron."

Draco glared at Harry. "Now that was low, and no it doesn't, I would never treat her that way."

Harry paused to think about that, "Okay, you may have a point there, but you _have_ treated her horribly in the past."

"And _she_ punched me in the face once," countered Draco, "and no, that doesn't make us even, and that's not the point. I've been trying to explain to her for months that I have changed. Can either one of you point out how the Weasel has changed in the past seven years? For the better that is."

"But, you and Hermione," stated Harry feeling numb, "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that one."

A knock came on the door, interrupting their conversation.

They both yelled, "It's open, come on in."

Hermione walked into the room. She noticed that Harry and Draco were sitting down on opposite sides of the room, and they both had left their wands sitting on the table in front of them. She immediately began to draw her wand.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**AN: Cliffhanger, _again_. I know, how rotten of me.**


	9. Chapter 9 - And So It Begins

**AN: Here is the next chapter. I've tried to proof read it several times, so hopefully the grammar and typos won't be too much of a problem. I will deal with the issue of Susan Bones' status in one of the upcoming chapters...so to the reviewer (you know who you are) you were correct - Susan is listed as being a half blood although most of her family are pure-bloods...**

* * *

Hermione walked into the room. She noticed that Harry and Draco were sitting down on opposite sides of the room, and they both had left their wands sitting on the table in front of them. She immediately began to draw her wand.

Harry and Draco stared at her, wondering what was going on.

Hermione looked at Harry and he could tell that she was struggling with something. She pointed her wand at him, and Draco moved to get his wand.

Hermione screamed at both of them. "Don't move, don't even say a word."

The two wizards froze again.

"Accio wands!" she shouted and both of their wands flew to her hand.

Harry and Draco both muttered under their breath as they wondered what the bloody hell was going on. Harry looked her in the eyes and he could tell she was fighting a curse.

"You can fight it, Hermione!" shouted Harry.

"I told you to stay quiet!" she yelled back at him, now pointing her wand in his direction.

"She did say that," agreed Draco.

"You too, you jerk," said Hermione as she turned and faced Draco, pointing her wand at him now.

Harry looked at Draco and smirked as Hermione never called people names like that.

But that got Harry thinking: what was she doing, was she fighting the imperius curse, or was she waiting for something else to happen. The sweat forming on her brow convinced him that she was fighting the curse. He remembered when he first threw off the curse from the fake Mad-Eye that it seemed like it took forever, and he had to concentrate very hard. Hermione was frustrated that she was unable to do it then, but here she was, apparently under an imperius curse again, and actively fighting it. Harry watched her eyes for a minute and then he watched as her wand which was pointed back at him began to waver, then she seemed to become a little unsteady on her feet.

While this was going on Draco kept looking back and forth between Harry and Hermione.

Silently Harry summoned a vase from the side of the room, which made it smash into the chair that Draco was sitting in. The sudden crash caused everyone other than Harry to jump. Hermione quickly turned on Harry, "How did you do that?"

"Do what? I didn't do anything," he protested, "you have my wand, and I didn't say a thing."

Hermione furrowed her brow. "You must have cast a spell silently. I ought to stun you now. I'm supposed to…"

"You're supposed to do what?" asked Harry.

"I'm supposed to do what I was told to do," she said as she was clearly struggling. "Stop talking to me and trying to confuse me." Suddenly she fired a blasting hex and destroyed the table that was in between Harry and Draco where their wands had been just a few minutes before.

Draco stared at the remnants of the table and then turned to look at Hermione. "Hey, you may be pissed at me for yesterday, but really, we can talk this out."

Hermione glared at him as she yelled, "Try talking this out!" She cast another hex at him, but Draco dove for the floor as the back of his chair was blown away.

Harry stood up from his chair. "You can continue to fight it Hermione, you don't have to give in, you're stronger than whoever told you to do this."

"What to you know about anything?" she snapped back at Harry.

"I know you, and you know I've been able to throw off the imperius curse before," he said calmly, "and I believe that you have the strength within you to do it too."

Hermione used the sleeve of her arm that was holding her wand to wipe the sweat off of her forehead.

"Obeying the curse is a lie, Hermione," said Harry, this time his words were more forceful. "You can be your own person, listen to your own mind, make your own decisions, don't let anyone tell you what to do. Not me, not Draco, not whomever it was who put you under that curse!"

Hermione pointed her wand at Harry. In her mind she heard the words over and over again, and they sounded so soothing, 'Go back and find Potter and Malfoy, and when you do, kill them and let us know where they live. That's all you have to do.' Harry could see her wand start to waver again. "But it hurts so much to not obey, to not follow the commands," she said with tears now streaming down her face.

"Drop your wand, and we'll take care of you," said Harry softly, "it will be okay, everything will be okay. You can do what you want to do, not what someone else tells you to do."

Hermione looked at Harry and then she looked at Draco. Her wand wavered between the two then slowly she pointed her wand towards the floor and then finally she dropped it. She stared at her wand and she collapsed to the floor. Draco was the first one to her side. She had not lost consciousness but she was still very weak. The two young men helped her over to the sofa.

Once she was lying still, she looked up at Harry, "How do you do it so easily?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "If you mean by 'do it' to throw off the imperius curse, it's not easy. It's never easy to throw of that curse."

"How did you know?" asked Draco as he looked over at Harry.

Hermione and Harry looked back at Draco. Harry then asked, "Wasn't it obvious she wasn't acting like her self?"

Harry then picked up all of the wands and tossed Draco's wand back to him. He then turned back to Hermione and spoke gently to her. "What happened, who did this to you, and what did they tell you to do?"

Hermione just started to sob, "I really can't remember much of anything."

Draco looked hurt, "You came after us, here in our apartment. You sure looked like you wanted to kill us."

Hermione tried to calm herself down. "I'm not sure who it was, it wasn't someone I recognised, or at least I can't remember who it was, or maybe they made me forget who it was." She started to cry again and Draco knelt down next to her and tried to comfort her.

Harry felt uncomfortable watching this, watching Draco Malfoy being the one to comfort his best friend.

After a minute she was calmer and she began to explain a little more about what had transpired the previous day. She looked up at Harry, "I went to search for you, I knew you went to be by yourself, that you had left to think things through, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Draco and I found the note that you had left, so I figured that you probably went to Godric's Hollow, but somehow somebody must have followed me there."

"Just a moment," interrupted Harry. He then waved his wand over her, and his face turned into a frown. "You've got a tracking charm on you, like a muggle homing device."

Draco then ran to their balcony, and checked the perimeter of the apartment, then he came back inside.

"I didn't find any evidence of anyone else coming near here," he announced.

"Why would they," commented Harry, "they wouldn't have a reason to come here so quickly."

"They're probably waiting to see if I completed my mission," added Hermione as her eyes watered up again.

Draco asked, "Your mission?"

"Yes, to kill the two of you," she said as she broke down in tears again.

Harry brought the conversation back to the risk they all were facing. "So, we don't even know who was trying to control you, we only know what they did, and we can presume why."

"And we need to remove the tracking charm," added Draco

"Yes, please," agreed Hermione

"I think that the tracking charm was placed first," commented Harry, "that would be how they found you at Godric's Hollow."

"Obviously," commented Draco, mimicking his late godfather. He then considered that the tracking charm must have already been on Hermione. "If whoever put that curse on Hermione placed the tracking charm on her before she went looking for you at Godric's Hollow, then they probably already know where we live."

Harry considered his words. "Good point, however, they can't get in here very easily. Hermione could, which is why they used her to attack us. But we might want to consider moving somewhere else, just to be safe."

Hermione looked up at Harry, "Where would you move?" She looked back and forth between the two young men. "This is all my fault, and I have no idea how or when someone could have placed that tracking charm on me."

She was about to start to cry again when Harry knelt down to hug her. "Hermione, it's not your fault. You've been in and out of the magical world, you've been busy with so many things. Someone could have tagged you with that curse from across the street for all we know, or in the middle of a crowd. It's not like wizards and witches everywhere don't know who you are and won't figure out you'll have contact with me at some point."

Draco smirked, "And if they wanted to get at me, the Daily Prophet kind of announced that we might be found together. They just helped someone's nefarious plot move along. No one here is blaming you for anything."

Harry sat back in a chair as he stared at the odd sight in front of him, his best friend, Hermione Granger, being comforted by his former bitter rival. "You two do understand how unusual this looks, don't you?"

Hermione put a hand to her mouth, "Oh my, Harry, I never had the chance to tell you. Draco and I, we had this argument, and then we actually calmed down and we…"

Draco interrupted her. "Hermione, it's okay, I already tried to explain things to Scarhead. Since I'm still here and talking with you, I think he might be okay with things. He hasn't hexed me yet."

"It is a rather unexpected development," Harry added, "you have to admit that yourselves."

"It is a bit unconventional," agreed Hermione.

"After all, his aunt did leave you with an unpleasant scar," added Harry.

Draco glared at Harry. "There was nothing I could do about that," he replied in protest.

Hermione looked away and rubbed her forearm where Bellatrix had cut the word "mudblood" into her skin.

Draco could see that she was getting upset by Harry bringing up the painful memories.

Harry could sense Draco's irritation. "I know you say you've changed, and that you've convinced Hermione that you have. And I really don't mean to be causing a problem for the two of you. And maybe I'm out of line, but Hermione is like a sister to me, and so maybe I'm being a little over protective of her."

Harry paused as he noted Hermione had turned to stare at him, wondering where Harry was going with his little monologue.

Harry continued, "But you two have major issues to deal with. I know you said you worked some of them out yesterday. Hey, that's brilliant and I'm happy for you if this works out. But as her unofficial brother, I have some questions for you, and maybe this isn't the right time, but before this goes much further, I think Hermione needs some answers."

Hermione looked at Harry and mouthed the words, "What are you talking about?"

Draco caught on to what Harry was referring to. "I think he means your parents house, the Death Eater raid."

Hermione turned and looked at Draco. She closed her eyes and bit her lip for a moment. She stood up and walked over to where Harry was and slapped him once. "I don't think I was ready to hear about it," she said. Then she sat down in front of him. "But now I do need to hear about it, since Harry so kindly brought it up. So, little brother, hold me while Draco tells me all about what happened. I want to hear it, and I want to hear it now."

Draco shook his head as he prepared to tell the tale of what happened that night. He looked at his new girlfriend and let out a long breath. "Please, understand things were difficult for me at the time. And please, hear me out, listen to the entire story before you cast judgment."

Hermione bit a knuckle on one finger as she nodded while Harry engulfed her in a hug.

Draco took another deep breath. "The Dark Lord sent a team of Death Eaters to attack your family at the end of the summer. It consisted of Professor Snape who led the way, as he had your address, being the new Head Master, my Aunt Bellatrix, and several new recruits. Once we arrived at your parents house, they sent me in first, to see if any one was inside, as I 'knew' you best. And yes, I did go in first. The first floor was empty, as you well know. I was then sent up stairs to investigate the other rooms. I found your room first, I saw your empty trunk and many of your belongings, some of your books and things. Obviously you had some toys, stuffed animals, typical girly things."

Draco paused and looked away. Hermione had tears streaking down her face. Harry conjured a handkerchief for her to wipe her tears.

Draco then continued with his story. "I then made my way back down stairs and told everyone that there was no sign of anyone in the house. No one really expected to find you there, Hermione, as you hadn't been seen after the ordeal at the wedding and then later that same day when you spoke the taboo name and they sent a couple of Death Eaters after the three of you." Draco laughed slightly. "Those two fools actually thought it would be a piece of cake to take you three down."

Harry cast a glare at Draco, "We were discussing Hermione's home, not what happened at some bloody cafe."

"Tottenham Court Road," added Hermione. The other two just looked her. Hermione rolled her eyes, "The Luchino Caffe on the Tottenham Court Road, that's where we had the duel with those two bloody Death Eaters who tracked us down because you said Voldemort's name."

Harry shook his head, "But that has nothing to do with the story, 'Mione."

"Oh, right," she said and bit her lip.

Harry looked at Draco and tried to silently apologise for her.

"Right," said Draco as he began again. "Well, I came down stairs and told everyone else that no one was there. Aunt Bellatrix went spare. Snape simply raised an eyebrow and turned and walked away. The others, well, they all started casting any sort of spell they could think of that might cause some sort of damage. I just followed my godfather and we apparated away."

Hermione stopped her tears and looked at Draco. After a minute of silence she nearly shrieked at him. "That's all you did? That's all you could do? Walk away while that crazy bitch did who knows what to my house, to my belongings, to my things, to my parents things."

Harry could feel her get ready to stand up as her muscles started to tense.

Draco was obviously feeling remorse for what he did, or at least it was obvious to Harry. He held his hands up as he continued to try to explain things. "They burned the house down. Bellatrix never went upstairs. And no one defiled any of your belongings, there was no way anyone could have done that."

Hermione glared at Draco. "How could you be so sure? You just said you walked away!"

Draco slowly stood up, as he said, "Please, wait right here, I have something to show you."

He then turned and walked into his room. A moment later he came back, first he conjured a new table to replace the one that Hermione had destroyed earlier. Then he placed a small item on the new table in front of Hermione. Draco then touched it with his wand and the shrinking spell on it reversed. Hermione's old school trunk returned to its original size and it appeared to be in the same condition it had been in when she last saw it before she left for the Burrow last summer.

Hermione looked back and forth between Draco and the trunk. "This is more than a little strange," she said.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "The shrinking charm I cast on it was done in such a way that the trunk could not be returned to normal if it was not in your presence."

Hermione was shocked to hear this revelation.

"Why? Why would you do something like that? That was last summer. You hated me back then, you considered me a mudblood, something worse than dirt," said Hermione, amazed at what she was looking at in front of her, too much in shock to even touch her trunk.

"Who ever said I hated you? Was I mean to you? Yes, that much I freely admit," stated Draco. "We already covered the use of the word, that I will not repeat in your presence. I told you yesterday that I am trying to change. I did this for you," he said as he waved his hand in front of the chest. "I tried to gather up as much of your personal belongings as I could. I figured if anyone else came up I could always explain that you must have packed in a rush at some point during the summer, either before or after that Weasley wedding with the French tart."

Hermione looked at the trunk and then back at Draco. "You still haven't answered my question. Why? Why did you do it?"

Draco stood there motionless and speechless for a moment, then he started to shift uncomfortably for a bit. "I supposed it was a combination of things, but mostly, for some reason, I felt the need to protect you, even back then." Draco turned away from her at that point and started to walk towards his room.

"Draco, wait," she called out as she stood up, pushing away from Harry, "that's nothing to be ashamed of. That was the most noble thing anyone has ever done for me."

Harry bit his tongue and decided not to bring up stories about trolls or basilisks at this moment.

Draco stopped where he was but he didn't turn around.

"I still feel like I should hate you," began Hermione, "just for being there when they destroyed my home. I mean, that was the home I grew up in, I have so many memories from there." Then she looked over at the trunk on the table. "But I understand you had no choice, no one really had much of a choice if _he_ told you that you _had_ to go…"

Draco turned around and faced her now. Hermione could see that he was upset and that his eyes were wet. She understood that this was hard for him, she understood that he had years of being a prideful pureblooded wizard. She pointed at the trunk on the table. "Most of my memories are probably found inside that trunk, Draco. You have no idea what this means to me."

"I did it on a whim," he said softly. "I ran into that house, knowing what was going to happen, that anyone inside would be killed, and that the house would be destroyed, and I thought for a brief moment, what would I think if this was my house and people were about to destroy everything I cared about. Maybe that was the moment things started to change for me." He turned and cast a spell on the trunk to unlock it and once again he moved to retreat into his room.

Hermione went to follow him, but Harry grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Let him go," he whispered. "Give him some time, this is difficult for him. He was expecting rejection from you."

Hermione spun around to face Harry, "What? Why? But I didn't!" she protested. She turned back and just stared at the closed door to Draco's room.

Harry gently put a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I would suspect that Draco's probably even worse at this emotional stuff than I am. He probably just needs some time. He needs to come to grips with everything you both have said to each other. Hell, he's still probably trying to figure out why he put all of your stuff in your trunk in the first place last summer."

Hermione just whispered, "But he did, he saved my things from the Death Eaters."

"Yes, he did," said Harry.

"And I told him that I hated him," she said.

"I thought you did that _before_ you snogged him silly," added Harry.

Hermione turned and slapped Harry on his arm, "Shut up, you prat."

"You two need to get beyond your past words to each other or this will never work," commented Harry, "you do know that."

Hermione let out an uncomfortable laugh, "And when did you become so great at giving out relationship advice?"

Harry gave her a gentle hug, "By learning from my best friend." Hermione responded by laying her head on Harry's shoulder.

After a few minutes of standing there, comforting his best friend, Harry realised it was getting late, and his stomach was getting louder. He looked at Hermione as he said, "I have no idea how much longer your ferret is going to be, but I for one can do with something to eat. How about I order us some takeaway? There's a decent Chinese place nearby, they even deliver."

Hermione smiled at him. "Sure, sounds great. Be sure to order enough for everyone."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Of course, I'm not _that_ rude."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

At the warehouse:

A man in dark robes stood before the Shadow Lord, "What time will everything be taking place tomorrow?"

The Shadow Lord smiled behind his hood, not that anyone would have been able to see his response. "If everything happens according to schedule, the grand event should occur at approximately 11 in the morning."

The other man replied, "But why wait until now?"

Unlike his former master, he didn't punish people for questioning his plans. "Less likely to hurt children. Who knows if any good pureblood children might be around at the time. Now, if there were to be blood traitors as collateral damage, that would be acceptable, but I want to limit the collateral damage that might happen to the purebloods. That is why I waited until school started. Now, you need to start on the next plan, have you located the next target?"

The man gulped as he had not accomplished his goal yet. "She is not staying in the old family manor, we are still trying to locate her."

The Shadow Lord turned away as he spoke. "Work harder on locating her, then. If Granger fails, she will be our next pawn. Now leave."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

The following morning Harry woke up after sleeping on the couch, again. Hopefully letting a young woman use his bedroom wouldn't lead to the same misunderstandings as the last time that occurred. Harry proceeded into the kitchen and started to make breakfast for everyone. Draco soon trudged out to join him and took a seat at the kitchen bar.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he looked around the flat. "Isn't she usually an early riser?"

Harry was busy cooking up some bacon as he answered his roommate, "She's probably reading or something. I expect she'll be out shortly to get something to eat."

Draco stared at the door to Harry's room. "I suppose you're right." Then he turned and looked at Harry. "I can't believe I just admitted that you're right about something. Better not be making a habit of this."

Harry laughed at Draco's comment.

Draco then continued in a quiet voice. "Thanks for last night, for being there to help keep her calm when I showed her the trunk and everything. I can't believe how things worked out."

Harry turned around and looked at Draco. "You know, it wasn't really anything that I did, Draco. It's you, you're growing up. You've matured. You're learning to grow beyond the prejudices that were ingrained in your upbringing. You're learning how to care for another person. And besides you've shown Hermione you have more emotional range than a teaspoon."

Draco raised an eyebrow at that comment, "An obscure reference to the Weasel I presume."

Harry smiled, "Right in one." He then turned back to work on breakfast.

A minute later Hermione made her way out to the kitchen and slid a stool up next to Draco. "Good morning," she said as she greeted him with a kiss on his cheek.

"I can get used to this," he said with a grin.

"Spare me," said Harry, with his own grin as he slid a plate full of eggs and bacon and toast in front of each of them.

As they all began to eat, Harry asked them what they had planned for the day.

Hermione sheepishly admitted she needed to head to the university and get registered for classes and make sure she was settled in an apartment on campus.

Draco offered to help in any way he could.

Hermione turned the question back on Harry, "What about you? Figured anything out about your own dilemma?"

"Well, I know I need to speak with them both, and I should do that today," he admitted. "And I need to talk with Gringotts about getting some place else to stay. This apartment is plenty well warded, but no offence Hermione, but I'm not sure if Draco and I are safe here anymore. And don't beat yourself up over that either, neither one of us blame you for that either."

Draco gave her a hug as Harry said that to reassure her of Harry's words. Then he turned to Harry, "Maybe we can find a place close to the university where Hermione will be attending."

Harry smiled, "Maybe. I'll have to see what I already own. Changing subjects again, I still need to figure out when and where I'll meet up with Susan and then Daphne, should I do it at the same time or separately, and how to contact them. It's not like I have an owl to send them a message."

Hermione frowned at her friend, "Are you a wizard or not, Harry Potter? Use your patronus to contact them. Oh, and it would probably not be a good idea to speak to them together. And don't have them come over here either, considering that as you already mentioned, this location is probably compromised, you don't want either one of them getting hurt just because they're coming to see you."

Harry nodded, "You're right of course. I could send them each a patronus message, probably should just meet with them at the park. Although I never met with Daphne at the park."

"Hyde Park is a well known park," stated Hermione. "She's been living in London all summer, she should at least know of it by now. It shouldn't be too hard for her, she is a smart girl."

"Well, then I'll make my way to Diagon Alley by eleven to meet with Gringotts, then head over to the park by one to meet with Sue, and then plan to meet with Daphne at two," said Harry.

"Now that sounds like a well thought out plan," added Hermione with a smile.

"Thanks, Hermione," replied Harry. "So, you kids, try and stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived at the Leaky Cauldron a little before 11 in the morning, hoping to avoid any crowds that might be there for the mid day meal. He used a glamour charm to mask his identity as he really didn't want to be bothered by anyone either, particularly with the way things had been going lately. He was happy to make it through the pub and into Diagon Alley without any incident. He stepped into the alley and noted that it wasn't particularly crowded which wasn't too surprising considering the students had all recently returned to Hogwarts for the new school year. He then made his way to the bank to meet with his personal accounts manager so he could start looking into what other properties he might be able to use for a place to live, and if none were suitable, then perhaps he could purchase one not far from the university that Hermione would be attending.

As he was about to step into the bank, he paused as he remembered to send out the patronus messages. Recalling how to use the same spell that could defend him from attacking dementors as a means of sending a message, he quietly cast the spell, 'expecto patronum' and the silvery stag issued forth. Harry gave it the command to speak to Susan Bones and tell her where to meet with him, at the Lido Cafe at Hyde Park at 1 in the afternoon. He watched as the stag dashed off, even running through buildings as it made its way towards its destination. Harry shook off the awe he experienced in watching the stag as he once again cast the spell, this time commanding the silver stag to deliver its message to Daphne Greengrass, instructing it to tell her to meet him at the Lido Cafe at Hyde Park at 2 in the afternoon. Again he watched as the second stag dashed off to deliver his message.

Harry then turned and entered the bank, finally ready to begin his meeting with his account manager.

Several minutes later just down the street from Gringotts Bank, two dark robed figures quickly made their way up the street and turned into Knockturn Alley. They pushed passed witches and wizards along the dark and twisting passages and disappeared into an old pub deep in the shadows of the infamous alley.

Only a few minutes after that, there was a loud explosion from the front of one of the shops in Diagon Alley. People were screaming and running in various directions. Someone was calling for help. A couple of people were lying still on the ground in the middle of the alley. The sign that once was hanging proclaiming Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes lay lying on the ground. The windows to the shop were shattered.

People just stood nearby in shock. Nothing like this had happened in Diagon Alley since long before the war had ended. Suddenly the initial shock wore off and people realised that there were those who were injured and people who needed to be helped. Passersby started murmuring.

The witches lying in the street were simply stunned from the explosion, and were not hurt and slowly were able to get up and brush themselves off. Soon a couple of shop keepers moved towards the damaged shop to get a closer look as a couple of Aurors arrived to investigate what had happened.

One of the bystanders commented, "The foolish Weasleys', probably experimenting again, they'll kill us all!"

One of the Aurors was looking around the debris and quickly made a pronouncement. "This explosion did not come from within the building, someone must have placed some sort of explosive device on the outside wall, unless you saw someone cast a very strong spell into the storefront."

The two Aurors then made their way through the rubble after making sure that they had magically supported the upper part of the structure so that the building would not collapse on them. The second Auror sent a patronus message to St. Mungo's notifying them they might need healers if they found any victims of the explosion within the building.

Stepping inside, the first Auror cast the 'homenum revelio' spell and quickly found a body under the rubble. The two then were able to find a woman lying under a several boards which they then quickly removed.

"Are the healers here yet?" he asked his partner.

"They should be arriving any moment," replied the junior Auror, who was also assessing the injured witch. "She seems to have a broken leg."

"And some internal injures in addition to a concussion," added the first Auror. "She's actually quite lucky to even be alive."

There was sounds of footsteps behind them as a couple of healers arrived on the scene. The senior Auror explained the injuries which they had diagnosed and the healers immediately began to stabilise the woman.

"Does anyone know who she is?" asked the healer.

A bystander had walked through the rubble, "I think that's Angelina Johnson, she's the fiancée to George Weasley, the shop owner."

The healer never looked up as he was casting some spells, "She is seriously injured, but she is stable enough for transport to St. Mungo's. We'll need to leave now. I'll send another team right away in case you find anyone else."

The Aurors made their way further into the shop. Casting the spell they couldn't find anyone else in the rubble within the shop. The senior Auror turned to the man who had identified Angelina. "Sir, are you familiar with this shop? Do you know if anyone else was inside the building, and if so where they might have been?"

The gentleman rubbed his chin, "I've been in here only a couple of times, but I've heard George talk about doing research in his basement with his partner, Jordan, Lee Jordan I think it was."

The Aurors looked around and they noticed that part of the second floor was missing, then they realised that it must have collapsed and crashed into the main floor, which probably crashed into the basement below.

The junior Auror looked down at his feet and mumbled, "This can't be good."

By now a couple of more Aurors had arrived on the scene and were getting statements from witches and wizards who were present in the alley who may have seen what had happened. No one recalled seeing anything out of the ordinary immediately prior to the explosion that destroyed the store front to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

Inside the severely damaged building, the senior Auror was trying to discern if there was anyone alive in the basement. Finally the 'homenum revelio' spell indicated that there were two people below them. The two Aurors made their way towards the back of the building where they were able to find what appeared to be stairs, but again, there was a massive amount of rubble blocking their way. Using spells to lift the rubble and move it away, they began the painstaking process of clearing the way to get to the basement where the two other victims were apparently located.

After fifteen long minutes and some help from some others they finally cleared away the stairs. They had managed to make their way down into the basement only to find large piles of rubble which still blocked the way to the victims.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

At the Ministry of Magic, Gawain Robards had been made aware of the incident in Diagon Alley. He was receiving regular updates from his staff, and soon he learned which building had been damaged, and that there were at least three casualties, one of whom was already taken to St. Mungo's, and two more that were still trapped inside the damaged building. The door to his office was swung open without so much as a knock and he looked up to see the Minister for Magic standing there.

"Minister," he said, startled as he stood up from behind his desk.

"Gawain, I just heard the news about the explosion at Diagon Alley," commented Kingsley with a severe look on his face.

"Yes, terribly tragic, my men are there right now, trying to rescue at least two more victims," added Robards.

"I hear it was the Weasleys' joke shop," said the minister.

"Yes, yes it was," replied the head of the DMLE.

"Has anyone informed Arthur yet?" asked the minister.

"I don't think so, we've all been trying to coordinate this and I have a team on the way to look for any clues as to exactly what happened," commented Robards.

"Of course, that is your job and your responsibility," agreed Kinglsey. "I'll see to Arthur, I know him well, he's a good man. George is his son who own's the shop. He lost his twin brother, Fred, at the Battle of Hogwarts. I'm worried that he'll take the news hard. If you have someone you can spare, please send them over to the Burrow and fetch Molly Weasley. Don't let her go to Diagon Alley. Bring her here or directly to St. Mungo's."

"I'll look into that right away, minister," replied Robards.

"Thank you, Gawain," said Kingsley sombrely, "I'll go see to Arthur."

A minute later the minister was knocking on Arthur Weasley's office door. Arthur was surprised to see his friend there to greet him.

"Why, Minister Shacklebolt, this is a pleasant surprise," said Arthur in his usual friendly manner.

He noted however that Kingsley appeared to be less than happy.

"I'm sorry that I have some less than pleasant news for you, Arthur," said Kingsley as he tried to hide a frown from appearing on his face.

"What ever could be the problem?" wondered Arthur out loud. "Not another attack on our dear Harry I hope."

Shacklebolt shook his head. "No, but there was some sort of attack, or at least we think it was an attack, or an accident. It seems there was an explosion. In Diagon Alley."

The words hung in the air and Arthur started to tremble slightly.

"Your son's store, it appears as though someone may have attacked it," added the minister.

Arthur was completely shaken with the news. "Is everyone all right? George, is George okay? Was Angelina there? Were there customers in the store? Children, what about children?"

Kingsley grasped Arthur by the shoulders, "We think that there were no customers in the building. I have been told that Angelina was taken to St. Mungo's all ready. They are trying to get George and I think it must be Lee Jordan who was with him, but they are trapped in the basement."

"We must go there at once and help them," said Arthur who was shaking and crying at the same time.

"You won't be of any help there at this time, Arthur," said Kingsley. "Let's take you to St. Mungo's and you can wait for them there. I've already had people go get Molly and she will be brought there too. There is nothing for you to do at the shop."

Arthur continued to shake and Kingsley just engulfed him in a hug. "We will do everything we can for them."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Ten minutes later the healers were arriving at the emergency ward at St. Mungo's with two severely injured wizards. Arthur and Molly Weasley had to be held back by several wizards while the medi-witches and the healers did what they could to stabilise George Weasley and Lee Jordan. It was over thirty minutes before they received any report from the staff. But the report they received was that both George and Lee were going to be okay. They had each suffered multiple broken bones but only minor internal injuries. Apparently they were working on creating some new products and they had been wearing some protective gear in case anything went wrong, and this protective gear actually helped prevent some more serious injuries when the ceiling crashed in on them from above.

It wasn't until a little later in the afternoon before they had heard any more about Angelina. She too had suffered severe injuries, including burns over part of her body. However, as she had been found relatively quickly, the healers had been able to stabilise her and start on repairing much of the more serious injuries relatively quickly, although she would require several weeks of treatments at the magical hospital before she would be able to leave.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

While the commotion was going on in Diagon Alley, Harry was busy with his meeting with his account manager at Gringotts. He had explained what he needed as far as a new apartment. Ragnok was initially delayed in meeting with him, but once he was available he quickly set about trying to help determine what would be the best course of action to take.

"There are no properties which either the Blacks or the Potters own near the University of Oxford," stated the goblin. "Do you really want to keep living in an apartment, or do you want to move to a house, or even into an estate? We can look into seeing if there are any properties available. If you were to purchase even a muggle estate, we could have the property fully warded within a matter of days."

Harry contemplated the offer. "Why don't you see what is available in the area as far as estates go, and perhaps look into another flat here in London, as it would be nice to have a place here in the city, other than having to go to Grimmauld Place."

"As you wish, Lord Potter-Black," replied Ragnok with the slightest bow of his head. "Hopefully we may have some options for you to review by later this afternoon."

Harry smiled, "Well, I have some important business to attend to earlier this afternoon, so we shall see you later, perhaps around 4, if that would be acceptable?"

Ragnok nodded, "That should be fine. Now, have you been able to determine the details of the rules of your houses?"

Harry let out a sigh, "Andromeda Tonks has been most helpful in that regard and my next couple of meetings will be to address those issues. It seems I may be required to have one wife for each house."

Ragnok shook his head, "My friend, you have survived multiple encounters with one of the darkest wizards of all time, you have battled dragons and even conquered death. Perhaps this may prove to be your undoing yet."

Harry then noticed Ragnok's lips turn up into a smile and the goblin started to laugh a hearty laugh. "Only you my friend, only you would be so unfortunate as to have to take two wives. I do not envy you, Harry, no I do not."

Harry joined in him in the laugh, but then he briefly wondered how true the warning might be about having to take two wives.

With that Harry got up and made his way out of the bank, a little more concerned about the rest of his day. Harry made his way out of the bank and back out into Diagon Alley only to see confusion and mayhem down the street. People were running around, some were weeping, others were acting scared. Then Harry noticed a couple of Aurors apparate into the alley.

"Excuse me, can you tell me what is going on," he asked one of the Aurors.

"There has been a disturbance at one of the shops," was the only answer he heard.

So Harry decided to follow the Aurors. He noticed there was some smoke emanating from one of the buildings. As he got closer he realised that it was coming from the general direction of George's shop. He could now see that there was a wall of people that had gathered a little ways up from where Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was located. Harry began to walk quickly towards the shop. Once he arrived at the crowds he managed to push his way through. As people recognised him they quickly let him pass.

Harry tried to make his way into the obviously damaged building, and one of the Aurors keeping the crowd back shouted at him, "Who do you think you are pushing through the crowd like that, Harry Potter?"

"But I am Harry Potter," he answered sternly.

"Oh yeah, well, then I'm the minister for magic," replied the Auror.

Another Auror who was standing there came up from behind and tapped his partner on his shoulder. "Hey mate," he spoke softly, "he does have the scar. And the messy black hair. And the killer green eyes."

The first Auror turned back and looked at Harry, "Bloody hell, you ARE Harry Potter."

"Have been for most of my life," he replied. "Can you tell me what the hell happened here."

The second Auror shook his head. "No one knows. Just some big explosion. They already managed to get a few people out of the rubble, took them all to St. Mungo's they did. We're waiting on a team of special investigators to arrive."

Harry swallowed hard, "Was anyone, well, did any one…"

"No one died," answered the Auror who had recognised him, "or at least not when they left here with the healers. We didn't find any other bodies. Just two wizards and one witch. There's really nothing for you here. If you knew them, you best be off to St. Mungo's."

Shortly after Harry left for the hospital Gawain Robards arrived with the Special Investigation Unit. Robards started barking out commands left and right. "All right, you two," he said, "make sure this structure is shored up so it won't collapse on anyone. Now, Bagley, you and Smythe, I want you two to start going over everything we have around here for any possible piece of evidence."

Bagley looked up and pointed to a note that suddenly materialised on the outside wall where the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sign used to be. "You mean like that note that just appeared?"

Robards nearly jumped and turned around. He looked up at the note that was glowing, then he ducked and covered his head. "Is that another bomb?"

Auror Captain Bagley waved his wand over the parchment which was still glowing and then he turned to his boss, "No sir, it's just a magically generated parchment, with a message."

"Well, read the damned message, Captain," barked Robards, "do I have to tell you how to do everything?"

Bagley sighed as he looked up at the parchment.

_You left me scarred after you tried to capture me_

_Now I left you scarred_

_Or at least your loved ones_

_And your precious business_

_I have hurt you and I will continue to return and hurt you_

_You will not know how or when or even where_

_You can not run or hide_

_I will always find you_

_The Shadow Lord_

Bagley looked back at Robards. "Well, at least we know it wasn't an accident caused by Weasley. And the Shadow Lord isn't just after Potter and Malfoy. Or at least not anymore."

Robards cursed under his breath. "He's starting the whole damn war again."

Rita Skeeter was standing just behind him as he said that, "I'm sorry, I didn't quite get everything you said, could you repeat that please? Or maybe I'll go with what sounds best, yeah, that should work."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived at St. Mungo's and met up with the Weasley family. Soon he was updated about the condition of George and Lee. He was worried about how meeting the Weasleys was going to go, but the focus was clearly not about him, but about George and Lee and Angelina.

He was sitting in a chair in the waiting room, staring at his feet, wondering what he might be able to do to help when he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Hey, mate, it's been much too long," said Ron.

Harry jumped out of his seat and hugged his first friend. "I am so sorry Ron, if there is anything I can do for you or your family."

"I know mate," said Ron as he returned the hug.

The two stepped back and just looked at each other.

Finally Harry spoke again, "Really, if George or your family needs something, please, let me know. If I can help, just let me know."

Ron nodded numbly. "We just heard that there was a message from this guy, the Shadow Lord," said Ron.

Harry frowned. "That's apparently the same guy that is also after me."

Ron looked up and he was clearly concerned. "Any idea who it is?"

Harry shook his head. "No, none at all. But I'm working on figuring out what to do about him. I don't want any more crazy wizards chasing me all over. I want to be able to live in peace and quiet. And if he is going after my friends I need to find a way to put a stop to him."

Ron nodded, "If you need anything to help in that, you let me know. We did make a good team at one point, don't you forget that."

Harry smiled, "How could I? It's not every day we defeat a Dark Lord."

They both chuckled a little and then they fell into silence.

Finally Ron spoke again. "So, do you hear from Hermione at all?"

Harry looked down at his feet before answering. "Yeah," he said and then looked up at Ron. "She's going to be starting up at university soon. I thought I might move out closer to where she is, sort of keep an eye on her, you know."

Ron nodded. Then he gave Harry a strange look. "You and her, you're not hooking up are you?"

Harry laughed, "Hermione and me? You know we're like brother and sister. But I do feel like I need to watch out for her at times."

Ron nodded. "I heard about you getting attacked earlier this summer. Trouble still seems to follow you."

"That it does," Harry agreed, "and it follows my friends. That's why we're all here, waiting on news about George."

Mr. Weasley stepped up and greeted Harry with a hug. "It is so good to see you again Harry."

Harry smiled back at Mr. Weasley. "Like I was just telling Ron, if there is anything I can do to help George, or Lee, or Angelina…"

Arthur patted Harry on the shoulder, "It's okay, we know, Harry. We'll let you know if we need anything. How have you been, Harry?"

"I've been doing really well, Mr. Weasley," said Harry, trying to smile in spite of the events of the day.

"I"m sure you have, Harry," he smiled back. "The healers say they all will pull through. We've all had quite the scare for the day, but it looks like everyone is going to be all right."

Harry looked at his watch and noted the time. "Ron, Mr. Weasley, if it is okay with you, I have some important meetings I need to be getting to, and I'm not sure what else I can do right now…"

"It's okay Harry," said Mr. Weasley with a broad smile. "They won't be waking up for a while yet and the healers said only immediate family members can visit until tomorrow at the earliest. I'll be sure to let George know that you were here, I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

"Thank you Mr. Weasley," said Harry. He then turned to face Ron. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Well, I've been working some with George and Lee," he said sheepishly. "I was out getting some supplies this morning, I would have been there if I hadn't been doing errands for them. I'm just glad they had closed the store after the rush before school started. George wanted to get the stock back up and figured this was the best time to do it, and they wanted to get caught up on some research for new products."

"I guess it could have been a lot worse if this had happened with any customers in the store," said Harry, thinking about how lucky they were that the store was practically empty.

"Yeah, right," agreed Ron. "Hey, maybe we can get together for lunch someday, if you're around that is. I hear you're mostly in the muggle world now."

"Mostly," said Harry, "but occasionally, like today, I do stop by Diagon Alley or other parts of the magical world too, so maybe we can get together. That would be good."

Ron nodded, "I'd like that."

Harry started to walk away, and then Ron called after him. "Harry, could you do me a favour. Tell Hermione I said 'hello'."

"Sure thing, Ron," said Harry as he looked back at his friend, "I'll be sure to do that."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry arrived at the Lido Cafe at 1 pm, hoping that he wouldn't be late. He had gone back to change at his flat after meeting with the Weasleys. He wanted to be sure he had cleaned himself up and had a chance to deal with his emotions after the ordeal at Diagon Alley and then meeting with Ron and his family for the first time since just after the war and Fred's funeral. As he walked up to the cafe he briefly worried that perhaps his patronus messengers may not have reached Susan or Daphne. He started to worry about how many ways the messages could have gone wrong or what if either one of the girls or both of them decided not to meet with him.

He rounded the corner and walked up the steps to the outdoor cafe and suddenly he stopped in his tracks when he was surprised by what he saw at the table in front of him. Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass were sitting together. "Bloody hell, how could I have told them the same time?" he thought to himself. He quickly recalled in his mind what message he sent each young woman and he was sure he told Daphne he would meet her at 2. Maybe she decided to show up early and ran into Susan. Maybe he should have had them meet him in different places. He started doubting his entire plan for the afternoon. First there was the incident in Diagon Alley, and now this. What more could go wrong he wondered.

Susan and Daphne both saw Harry apparently frozen in place at the top of the short flight of stairs. The two had met earlier in the day and had known that they had each received a patronus message from Harry. They had the decided to surprise him and meet with him together, but they had not counted on completely stunning him like this.

Susan called out to him first, "Harry, come on, it's okay, we know about both of the meetings you had planned."

Harry took slow and careful steps towards the table where the two women sat together.

Daphne spoke up next, "Harry, we figured we could make it easier on you and meet with you at the same time."

Harry swallowed hard as he sat down opposite the two women. "This is supposed to be easier on me?"

Susan took a deep breath and then spoke her mind, "Look, Harry, we're all considered adults in the magical world. We also trust you, and we figure that you're going to be honest with both of us, whether you speak to us one on one, or with us both together."

Daphne cut in, "And we promise not to hex you, no matter what you have to say."

Harry took a deep breath himself, and shook his head slightly, "Well, I'm not sure exactly where to begin, but then again, I'm not sure if this would have been any easier doing this one at a time. All I can say is that I will be completely honest with everything I have to say."

The two women smiled and silently waited for Harry to continue.

"I guess the first thing I need to say is something that I think might be kind of obvious," he said looking away from them both. "This world we live in, or we're from anyway, the magical world. It's not a safe place." He turned to look at both Susan and Daphne. "You know about the wars, you know about everything, or at least almost everything that's happened to me over the past seven years. I'm like a magnet for trouble. My whole life has been dangerous. And just because the war is over, that doesn't mean that things are going to change. People attacked Draco and me this summer. Hell, someone tried to blow up George Weasley's store today at Diagon Alley. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't safe to be associated with me."

Harry noticed that there already was three glasses of water at the table. He took a sip from the glass closest to him. Then he added, "I can fully understand if you want to walk away right now."

He waited a minute and neither of the girls made any motion to move.

"I'm not about to go anywhere," stated Susan.

Daphne grinned as she added, "You're not about to scare me away, Harry. I already learned that one of the safest places for me is by your side."

Harry shook his head, and then he turned to Susan. "We had a lot of fun this summer, away from magic. If we're together, even in the muggle world, I can't promise you that there won't be people coming to look for me, to harm me or anyone close to me. I won't blame you if you want to leave."

Next he turned to Daphne. "Daphne, again, everything we did, it was fun, carefree, there were no commitments, I don't want you to feel obligated to me because of one night I happened to 'save' you. Yes, you're important to me. But then there is this thing that some would think is a bad habit I have, my 'saving people thing'."

Harry took another sip of water and looked at both girls before he continued. "Hermione thinks it will get me in trouble one day, this saving people thing."

Susan and Daphne echoed each other, "It gets you in trouble all the time."

Harry raised an eyebrow, but he went on, "Well, what I'm saying is that life gets complicated around me and that happens very easily, even when I try to make it simple. Fate decided to paint a target on me and refuses to remove it even now, after Riddle is gone."

Daphne stared at him, and then asked, "That's _all_ you have to say?"

Harry was surprised by her question, "Well, there's _more_ actually, but I figured that might scare you both away."

The two girls looked at each other then back at Harry.

"We're not budging…" they said together.

Harry looked at them both. Their speaking the same words at the same time was becoming quite disturbing to him. He shook his head slightly and then he tried again to explain things, "Well, my life does get complicated, and I just learned some things, so I need you to hear me out."

"We're still listening," commented Susan.

Harry was relieved that at least this time it was only one of them who made a comment. Harry rubbed his right temple briefly and then he began with his next explanation, "It has to do with my two titles, Lord Potter and Lord Black. I looked into this with my attorney. The rules of the families are different, and it makes things kind of awkward."

Daphne spoke up first this time, "Awkward how?"

Harry sighed before answering, "The rules of House Black do not allow the Lord Black to take a Lady Black and have her share that title with another house. In other words, she can't have heirs to any other houses."

The two women were both excited and frustrated. Daphne looked at Susan and tried to silently convey that this might be what they wanted to hear and surreptitiously kicked her gently under the table.

"Well, there is an exception," added Harry.

Daphne spun around and looked at Harry, "What do you mean by an exception?"

Harry ran his fingers through his hair and then he tried to explain it as best he could. "If I have a Lady Black, she could not have any heirs for House Potter; _however_, if she is the last of _her_ line for her _own_ house, and if she had multiple sons, a second or third son could be allowed to take her maiden name and continue her _own_ family line." Then he added quickly, "If I so allowed."

Harry then added, "And House Black requires that the Lady Black must be from a Pureblood family." He paused before he added, "I didn't write the rules."

Suddenly there was a different reaction from the two women. Daphne seemed excited by this answer, yet Susan seemed tentative. "What about House Potter?" she asked.

Harry nodded at her question. "Well, yes, there are different rules for House Potter. It seems that House Potter allows for that as well, having a second son take the mother's name if needed to preserve the family before it dies out. And house Potter would have allowed for multiple heirs, such as to other houses, but the Black rules precluded that."

Daphne and Susan looked back and forth between each other and then back at Harry.

Susan finally spoke up, "So can you put this in simple English for us, Harry?"

Harry shifted slightly in his seat. "Yeah, well, it seems that I, well I need two wives."

* * *

**AN: Oh how I HATE anonymous reviewers - **

**to the reviewer who stated that only a few people in canon were scarred - this story is OBVIOUSLY _not_ canon...**

**to the reviewer who suggested that the Shadow Lord is Harry...as in some Johnny Depp movie...seriously?...that would be a bizarre twist...but, no...I thought there were a LOT of clues already in this chapter as to who it might be...maybe they were too subtle...**


	10. Chapter 10 - And then they were three

**AN: This chapter was getting very long, so in an effort to 1) get something posted before I go on vacation (again) and 2) keep it from getting over 15 to 20,000 words before it was done and 3) prevent it from taking for ever to finally get an update and 4) allow this scene to get into the detail that it seemed to want to go into...I decided to make it one long scene...**

* * *

Harry was shocked by the response he received from Susan and Daphne. The two women seemed to expect that he was going to need two wives.

Daphne recognised the stunned response that Harry had to the nonplussed reaction of the two women in front of him. "Harry, we know you grew up with muggles, but I am from an old pureblood family. And while Susan may be considered a half-blood just because her mother was a muggleborn, she comes from another old pureblood family and she also knows the ways of the pureblood society. The Potters and the Blacks are definitely older than the Greengrass family and probably older than the Bones. I expected that you might have some family issues to deal with even before I knew you had the Black family title."

Susan chimed in with her own reassurances, "And Daphne did approach me earlier because we have our own family concerns. As the last of my family, I am worried that the Bones name could end with me, and Daphne is worried that the Greengrass family could end with her and her sister."

Harry nodded in understanding, "My solicitor was explaining some of those rules to me, and I wondered how they would come into play."

Daphne smiled gently at Harry, "Most wizards wouldn't even consider letting our family names continue. It would never even be discussed."

Harry shook his head in amazement. "The magical world seems so medieval."

Susan nodded in agreement, "It hasn't wanted to keep up with the changes in the muggle world, choosing to ignore the modernisation of their life."

Harry readily agreed with Susan. Then he looked at the two women, "So, it seems you two are already okay with what I had to tell you."

Susan and Daphne both smiled, but Daphne spoke up first. "To be honest, it's not my ideal, but I don't want to speak for Susan. I'm not really sure what I think about sharing, but I do know that I like the idea of being with _you_. However, if being with you means sharing you, but that also means I might also be able to keep my family name going, I'm okay with that. Considering what my options would have been otherwise."

Harry looked at Daphne, "What do you mean by that, what were your options?"

Daphne looked away from Harry. "My father had been working on a marriage contract with a business contact from Eastern Europe."

She continued to hide her face from Harry and Susan for a minute, eventually she wiped some tears from her eyes and composed herself before she turned back to face Harry.

Susan looked at Daphne before turning back to Harry. "You don't understand our society that much do you? What Daphne's talking about, that marriage contract, is not that uncommon in pureblood families. What future she has with you, is so much more than what she can imagine she would have otherwise. I can see that."

"Is that why you're okay with this idea of sharing?" Harry asked Susan.

"That's part of it," she said shyly. "Also, such an arrangement helps me. Yes, I come from a pureblood family, but due to my personally being a half-blood, there are those who try to take advantage of my position. In fact, I recently became aware of someone trying to activate an old contract that would force me to marry someone against my will."

Harry was stunned by this revelation and Daphne gasped. Daphne spoke up first, "Which family would do this to you? Who would try and activate this without your consent?"

Susan smiled thinly, "I was contacted by an Andromeda Tonks. She said she had been investigating a number of unusual occurrences. Apparently there was an old agreement between my great grandfather and the Nott family. However, she was able to determine that Theodore knew nothing of this agreement being activated, or the attempt at it being activated."

Daphne was clearly starting to get angry and Harry was simply confused. "Did Andy, I mean Andromeda tell you what to do about the contract?"

Susan smiled back at Harry, "Well, it can most easily be dealt with if a family with higher standing is willing to sign a contract immediately."

Harry became concerned, "What families would be considered of higher standing than the Nott's?"

Susan shrugged her shoulders and turned to Daphne, "Do you want to list the families for him?"

Daphne smiled, "Well, the Potters are not on the sacred list of 28, but they are considered an older family than the Notts, and the Blacks are definitely older than the Notts. If you add to that Harry's fame for having defeated the Dark Lord, Theodore would have to stake quite the claim to try and enact a marriage contract over one written by the Lord Potter-Black."

Harry shook his head in confusion. "Wait, so now I have to marry Susan so that she doesn't have to marry Theodore Nott?"

Daphne smiled at him, "See, your saving people thing shines through again."

"But…" Began Harry, only to be cut off by Susan.

"Are you saying you don't want to marry me?" she asked.

"No, it's not that," he stammered, "I just wanted to at least make sure it was okay with the two of you that I was dating you both at the same time and not have you want to hex my private bits off. I figured we ought to start there first!"

Daphne turned to Susan, "See, I told you he's so noble."

Susan replied, "I've always known that he was, that's why I've had my eyes on him since we were second years."

Daphne, "You do have a point there. And, apparently he is trainable."

"Trainable is good," agreed Susan.

"And he is athletic," added Daphne.

"Well, all those years of Quidditch, not too mention all of his adventures," continued Susan.

"And having to fight the war, almost single handedly," added Daphne, "and surviving the Tri-Wizard Tournament…all of that certainly has gotten him into good shape."

Susan looked at Harry and then back at Daphne, "You are right about that. And he does care about his friends."

Daphne nodded in agreement, "Yes, he could have been in Hufflepuff, no offence Susan."

"None taken, Daphne," replied Susan.

Harry's eyes were jumping back and forth between the two girls, following the conversation as they were taking about him almost as though he wasn't even there.

"Excuse me," he said, interrupting their banter, "I am still here, you don't need to keep going on and on about me as though I wasn't even around."

The two women stopped talking and looked at Harry and there was silence at the table for a minute. Then suddenly they both started to laugh. Susan then spoke up first. "We're sorry Harry, but this whole thing is going to take some getting used to, for all of us."

Daphne smiled at him and reached a hand out to him, which he carefully took with his, "I'm sure that this isn't easy on you, and we really don't mean to tease you at all."

Harry rolled his eyes, and then he sat up straighter and cleared his throat as the waitress came by.

"Are you three planning on ordering anything?" she asked.

Harry looked at the girls, and they looked back at him. "How about a glass of white wine for all of us," he suggested.

The waitress looked at him and waited for further direction. Harry turned to the two young women with him, and Daphne spoke up first, "I think a Riesling would be best." The waitress simply nodded and went back towards the bar.

The girls eyed him silently for a moment and the waitress returned quite quickly with the glasses of wine. Once Harry picked up his glass he looked at the two girls and he simply asked, "Would you Susan, and would you Daphne, do me the honour of becoming my girlfriends, understanding that this may entail both danger and adventure and quite possibly lead to much more in our futures together?"

Susan lifted her glass and smiled and looked to Daphne who did the same. Then they both turned to face Harry and they clinked their glasses. Susan answered first, "I've been waiting all summer for you to ask Harry, of course my answer is yes."

Daphne closed her eyes for a moment, and then she smiled broadly, "Of course my answer is yes, and honestly, I never would have imagined this day."

Susan turned and scoffed at Daphne, "You know that is so not true! I know you've been keeping your eye on Harry since at least third year!"

Daphne glared back at Susan, "That was not for Harry to know, and a Slytherin _never_ dreams of dating a Gryffindor, even if it was Harry Potter."

Harry couldn't help but smile at the two women. He even started to laugh until the two women turned and glared at him. Harry gulped and then spoke up, "Am I not allowed to enjoy this banter?"

Daphne answered first, "Not at all mister. It's going to be difficult enough for us to learn how to share a boyfriend, we don't need you making it any more difficult for us."

Susan nodded in agreement. "However, we do understand it can't be easy on you either."

Harry spoke up in defence of himself, "It's not like I've had the most experience in dating, so this is all new to me, even if it was just one of you."

Susan laughed, "You were doing pretty good with taking me around London all summer, and that was just as friends, now hopefully we can make things more interesting."

Daphne agreed, "Going dancing was fun, and I'd like to do more of it, as long as we avoid that one particular club. And I know that I only need one dance partner." She looked over at Susan, "And yes, I will share. And as Susan said, I look forward to having more fun, and the stories I've heard from Sue about the things you did with her, I think I'd like to do that with you, going to some of those places, and maybe even join you and Susan. I think the three of us could do some dates together. Some things might not be too awkward with the three of us."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. The three of them continued to talk about things, the summer, possible ideas for future dates. As they were finishing their wine, Harry looked at his watch and announced that he needed to head back to Gringotts and then he realised that he needed to explain why he was heading there.

"Draco and I have been discussing that we need to move. My apartment isn't really that safe anymore," stated Harry. "I think I may need to explain some things to you."

Susan and Daphne looked at each other and then back at Harry. "You already told us about the attack on George Weasley's place," stated Daphne.

Harry nodded, and he was clearly very uncomfortable. "Well, as bad as that was, I think this might be considered a little worse. At least as far as what might have happened."

Susan now was getting visibly upset. "What are you not telling us Harry?"

Daphne was leaning forward and Harry could almost feel her emotions starting to rise. "Tell us exactly what happened."

"Well, nothing _really_ happened," he stated, "I managed to take care of everything."

Daphne sighed heavily. "Don't ever lie to me, or to us. And don't make light of things. Ever. We already know what kinds of things happen around you. How could it be any worse than Crabbe trying to take you and Draco out in the alley outside of the bar you work at? Unless of course someone found out where you live."

Harry didn't respond at first.

Susan gasped, "Merlin, no, what happened."

Harry took a deep breath, "Promise to stay calm, and remember, I dealt with everything. We're all fine."

"Who is 'we' Harry?" asked Daphne.

Harry shook his head slightly, "Why don't I start with a few days ago. You two should remember it well, you know, when Daphne woke up at my apartment. As it turns out, when I went off to speak with you, Sue, my good friend, Hermione showed up to visit. It so happens that she and Draco got into a bit of a row."

Daphne shook her head, "That probably didn't end well."

Harry smirked, "No, not at all. It seemed to end with Hermione slapping him, and then Draco grabbing her and snogging her."

Susan and Daphne both were shocked and simultaneously said, "What!?"

Harry smiled, "I do believe that you heard me correctly. Yes, the blonde ferret of a roommate of mine has apparently hooked up with my best friend. And in case either one of you has any concerns, Hermione is like a sister to me."

Daphne shook her head, "Yes, I get that, I figured that out by sixth year when you hadn't started dating her by then. But _Draco_ dating her, I'm still having a hard time getting my mind around that."

Susan continued to shake her head, "I still can't picture it in my mind. With all of the abuse he gave her back in school…"

"It's not my place to say," commented Harry, "but he is trying to prove that he is a changed man towards her. But then the next day I met with my solicitor and I found out that I needed two wives, one for House Potter and one for House Black. I had no idea how this would go over with either one of you, honestly, and I had no idea what to make of that news. I went home to my flat and I left a note telling Draco that I needed to go clear my head. So I went to Godric's Hollow."

"That's where You-Know-Who attacked you and your parents," commented Susan.

"I told you, his name was Tom Riddle," stated Harry, "please, don't ever be afraid to use his real name. And yes, that is where my parent's died. I went to their graves and I spent some time there, speaking with them, well, not literally. While I was out, Draco and Hermione stopped by the flat, and found the note I had left. Hermione was worried about me and she figured out where I probably was. However, by that time I had gone back to meet with my attorney."

Daphne interjected, "So what did Hermione do when she couldn't find you?"

"I'll get to that in a minute," replied Harry. "Eventually I went back to my flat, and Draco finally told me about his new relationship with Hermione. I had a hard time believing him at first, too, and then I proceeded to threaten him like any good brother would if he somehow did anything to hurt Hermione. Well, last night, Hermione arrived at our flat, and we hadn't seen her since the day before, and that's when we figured out what happened. The Shadow Lord must have had her followed to Godric's Hollow, and had her placed under the Imperius Curse."

Susan gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Daphne closed her eyes tight for a brief moment and then commented, "You are here and you did say that you dealt with everything."

"Yes, I did," agreed Harry. "I helped her throw off the curse. She had been given instructions to attack Draco and me…"

"In other words," corrected Daphne, "she meant to kill you both."

"That's not what he said," corrected Susan.

Daphne rolled her eyes at the former Hufflepuff. "Susan, I almost want to hug right now for still being so innocent after everything we've all been through, especially you." Daphne turned back to Harry, "Please, be a little more blunt with her."

Harry nodded as he stared at the interaction between the two young women. "Hermione's instructions were in fact to kill us both." Susan's face paled at the thought. "It's okay Sue, and Hermione is fine today. We also removed the tracking charm from off of her. And now I need to find a new and safer place to live."

Susan and Daphne both nodded in agreement with what Harry had to say. "So you're really not heading back to that apartment," commented Susan.

Harry shrugged slightly and then continued, "We were thinking of moving closer to Oxford, as Hermione will be attending University there soon."

Susan responded by biting her lip, Daphne seemed to be deep in thought in response to what Harry had just said to them.

"But what does that mean for us?" asked Susan. "If you're going to be moving away just as we're starting to date, how will that work exactly?"

Harry took a deep breath and then he tried to explain a little further. "Well, I'm about to go meet with my account manager at Gringotts, and he's been looking into some properties near Oxford, specifically some estates. I think I'll have room for everyone. That is if you want to move there with me. I know that this is all kind of sudden and all, but I think we can all have our own rooms if the estate is big enough."

Harry looked down towards his feet, afraid to look at the women to see their reactions to what he had just said.

Susan and Daphne looked at each other and then back at Harry. Daphne spoke up first, "Did you just ask us to move in with you, Harry?"

Harry looked up and noticed that Susan was blushing and that Daphne's jaw was open in surprise.

"I guess I did," he answered, "I know it is rather sudden, but then again, considering that things are starting to get dangerous around me again, I'm also worried that things might get dangerous for you both once anyone finds out we're all together. So, yeah, I guess so, it is kind of fast to go from being friends who hang out to dating with the knowledge we may need to get married to living together, or at least living in the same house."

Daphne's expression changed to a frown for a moment. "I suppose I can easily commute magically there from London, if I'm going to keep working at all that is," she added. She then turned to look at Susan, "What about you Susan?"

Susan just shook her head for a moment, "I never expected things to move this fast, I guess." She looked at Harry and then back to Daphne. "I don't want to feel pressured to be doing anything, from either of you. And if things start getting more physical in your relationship together before it does between Harry and I, I'm not sure how I'd feel about that, and I guess that if we all move in together right away I'd just be worried we'd be rushing things that way too."

She looked over at Harry and she was trying to hold back tears. "I want this, really I do, but I want it to be right, not pressured, not rushed."

Daphne reached out a hand and grasped Susan's hand closest to hers. "It's okay, Susan, I understand exactly what you mean, and honestly, I feel the same way, just don't tell anyone else."

Susan looked up at Daphne and smiled. Daphne looked back at the strawberry blonde girl in front of her, "If we're both going to be with Harry, we need to do this together, there's no point in making this a competition from the start. We were friends at Hogwarts, even if we didn't know each other well. It may take work, but we better stay friends now, or we'll both be miserable which will only make our Harry miserable."

Susan smiled at Daphne as she softly replied, "Thanks."

Harry smiled at the two witches, "So, anyone interested in going to the Gringotts and seeing what options they have for estates near Oxford? Since it looks like you two will be moving there as well, I guess you might have some vested interest in this now."

Several minutes later Harry and the two women had arrived at Gringotts Bank. As they walked down Diagon Alley several people commented about Harry Potter being accompanied by two beautiful witches. Harry initially was worried about the news spreading that they were with him, but Daphne was the first one to mention that they couldn't hide their relationships with him forever, even if there was some dark wizard after him. Susan agreed with Daphne, stating that they had learned from Harry during the last war when they were students not to hide from those who tried to intimidate the wizarding public, so why should they start giving into their fears now? Harry realised that he couldn't argue with their logic, particularly since they learned it from him during the fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

Once they were in the lobby, one of the tellers quickly recognised Harry, and waved Harry over, "Your room is waiting for you Lord Potter-Black."

Harry bowed his head slightly, and thanked the goblin who then lead the way to the conference room as Harry and his two girlfriends followed. Once they arrived at the massive stone door, the goblin showed them in, and as he was about to leave, he stated that the director would be with them shortly.

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "You never mentioned that your account manager was the bank director!"

Harry seemed a little embarrassed. "Well, after the war ended, I had to come and deal with the fall out of some of my actions. It seems they weren't too happy with some of the things I had to do to be able to kill Riddle once and for all."

Susan was puzzled by this, "You were gone for almost the entire school year, and no one really knew what you and Ron and Hermione were up to."

Harry scratched the back of his head and he decided he could tell these two women the truth. "Riddle had done some very evil things, he had made soul anchors in order to try and make himself immortal. He had hidden these items in various places."

Daphne nodded in understanding, "So the three of you were spending your time on a giant scavenger hunt, I get it. So what did this have to do with Gringotts, unless one was hidden here."

Susan considered what Daphne said and then turned back to Harry, "But no one can break into Gringotts!"

Harry chuckled slightly, "Well, I'm not exactly no one. And the goblins were not very pleased with me. And then there was the matter of our escape. They were a bit upset about the damage. And the loss of the dragon."

Susan gasped, and Daphne rolled her eyes. Daphne shook her head as she spoke, "Is this what we have to look forward to, you continuing to put yourself into such dangerous situations?"

Ragnok had entered the room without their hearing him during their conversation. "We here at Gringotts hope that one of our most valued clients would not continue with such foolish behaviour. However, rest assured young ladies, that the man you are with has fully paid his debts and reparations to Gringotts and is once again a customer in good standing with this bank. But then again, that much should be obvious or I wouldn't be meeting with you today, now would I."

Harry laughed at the comments from Ragnok whose mere presence had startled the two women. "So, my friend, do you have some information for me?"

The goblin smiled. "Our agents have found a few properties, several estates in the vicinity of Oxford that may be acceptable to your Lordship. I see that you may have solved part of your dilemma already, and these two women seem to be so far accepting of your circumstances."

Harry smiled as he introduced the Lady Susan Bones and the Lady Daphne Greengrass to Lord Ragnok.

Ragnok smiled, "Now that the formalities are out of the way. There are three estates which you may wish to look at. The more expensive one has six main bedrooms, 3 guest rooms, a full kitchen, over 100 acres. There is a six car garage, and a climate controlled wine cellar among its features. It has some classic architecture styling and it is a gorgeous property. It can be purchased and warded within one week if you choose to pursue this property. The second property is a little smaller, although it has a separate guest house with 2 bedrooms. It has an indoor swimming pool, and less than 50 acres of land. The third property has only 5 bedrooms, but it boasts a 4 car garage, over 70 acres of land, and has some magnificent views."

Harry considered the options he had presented before him. Ragnok then placed several folders in front of him. "These are photos of the various properties. They are labelled in the order that I presented them to you. There is a description of each property and the asking price for each one as well is on the pages describing them."

Harry and the women started to go through the folders. After twenty minutes they really didn't have much of a decision to make. Harry quickly told Ragnok that he felt the first one, the largest estate seemed most ideal. Susan than spoke up, "But it is the most expensive one as Ragnok pointed out, is that going to be a problem?"

Ragnok simply laughed a deep guttural laugh, but coming from a goblin it was a more than a bit disconcerting. "This is the Lord Potter-Black you are talking about. I don't think he'll notice it affect his interest payments that much next quarter." He then turned to Harry, "We'll send one of our top negotiators, try and get the price down significantly, especially since you will be paying cash for the property. Oh, it will also not be done under your name openly, so that it cannot be easily searched for so that you can maintain your privacy. Once you own the property, we will send in the ward teams. We will let you know when we can have you move in and allow your house elves to arrange things as you want."

"Thank you Ragnok," said Harry.

Before the director left, he asked Harry if he needed anything else.

"There is one more thing," he said, "it seems that my apartment's location may have become compromised, so I may need a new flat, so I have a secure place to stay, or a secure place for Susan or Daphne to stay when any of us venture into the city."

Ragnok nodded, "We will work on that for you immediately. And we can set up something special at the current apartment if necessary." With that he turned and left the conference room.

As the trio left Gringotts Bank, they decided to head to muggle London and find a restaurant for dinner. While they were eating both Susan and Daphne were dismayed to hear that Harry planned to return to his apartment that night.

Susan argued against his doing that first, "With everything that happened there yesterday, how could you possibly think of returning there tonight?"

Daphne agreed with her, "Whoever did that to Hermione surely knows where you live, and by now must have figured out that their plan was not successful. Clearly they won't be stopping with one failed attempt against you and Draco."

Harry put down his fork and stopped eating and shook his head slowly. "I wasn't a Ravenclaw, but already there is a pattern of sorts. That wasn't the first attack on us. Remember Crabbe's attack? These attacks are planned out, and they are not back to back."

Susan disagreed, "Hermione coming after you and the attack on George Weasley were back to back."

Harry had picked up his fork again and was now using it to emphasise his point. "Two different attacks, meant to confuse and demoralise people. The Shadow Lord is trying to appear to have a strength and a power that he really doesn't have. He may have only needed one or two people to place the bombs that were timed to go off at George's shop at a certain time. He only needed one person to curse Hermione, and that was done the day before she attacked us, which was the day before the attack at Diagon Alley."

Daphne looked at Harry, "So, you're saying he is trying to appear more powerful than he is by making bold statements."

Harry took a bite of food before replying, "Exactly, he is a simple terrorist, using some of Tom Riddle's methods, but on a smaller scale. More like precision attacks. He is not going for massive attacks against muggle borns or average people. This is someone who is making specific targeted attacks because he wants revenge, and for right now he is doing it with anonymity."

Daphne smirked at him, "Such big words from our little Gryffindor golden boy."

Susan still had a look of concern, "I still don't like the idea of your heading back to your apartment tonight."

Daphne turned to Susan, "Are you suggesting that he head home with you tonight?"

Susan blushed at the thought. "No, not that," she stammered, then she turned to Harry, "but don't you have anywhere else you could stay for the night?"

Harry considered her question for a moment. "Well, there is my other property, but it is kind of creepy. And I haven't really been there since last fall. Some of the Death Eaters know about it, but I do have a house elf there who may have been keeping it clean, but I'm not too sure about that."

Daphne looked at Harry suspiciously. "Why does this sound like an even worse idea than your going back to your apartment?"

Harry laughed slightly at Daphne's concern. "Actually, Daphne, if there is any chance of your becoming Lady Black, then you really should see this place. We could make an adventure out of it. We could let Draco and Hermione know where we've gone and then head over to the Black family home after we're done here."

Susan looked at Daphne with a little trepidation, "Is this really a good idea, I've heard stories of the Black family home."

Daphne and Susan looked to Harry for a response. Harry simply shrugged his shoulders and then he began to explain, "It was a lot worse when we were in school. There were plenty of creatures such as doxies and pixies we had to get rid of, and then there was the horrid picture of Sirius' mother who would scream at anyone, call them foul blood traitor filth and all that. I think the dark arts books that were cursed have already been removed from the library. Kreacher, my house elf, has been fairly good to me since I destroyed the cursed locket for him, so he has started keeping the place clean. So all in all it's not so bad anymore."

Daphne then asked, "So, how do we get there?"

Harry laughed sightly at that. "Right now, you can't. It's quite secure. I can go there and I would have to change the wards. I could have Kreacher bring you there once that is done. I could tell you where it is located, but that may not be a good idea just yet."

Susan's smile grew wide, "It's under a fidelius?"

Daphne grinned, "With you as the secret keeper?"

Harry nodded grimly. "However a Death Eater followed us there last fall, so we had to escape quickly. I have been hesitant to use it since."

Daphne was clearly thinking hard about what Harry had said and then she gave him some advice. "If any Death Eaters knew of the location of your home, then they would have tried to find you there and they would have told others about your location."

Harry nodded in agreement, "The person who followed us there knew the general location but not the actual address. We could see Death Eaters watching for any signs of us entering or leaving the building until we decided to make a run for it and left the house for good."

Daphne reached out and took Harry's hand again, "Someday I want to hear the whole story of what you did last year. It sounds horrible and brave and awful Gryffindorish, but not now. But back to the issue at hand, whomever cursed Hermione and placed the tracking charm on her is looking for you there, at your apartment. They won't be looking for you at your other home."

"Probably not," agreed Harry, "unless they know I know they're looking for me and they know about my other home and they decide to start looking for me there."

Susan shook her head, "That is starting to get confusing you two, but back to the Black family property. Isn't it well warded? I would expect that you would be quite safe there even if someone knew you were there."

Daphne added, "She does have a valid point."

Harry rubbed his chin, "I'm sure it has very good wards, considering that no one has been able to break in, and any who have tried have been dealt with quite severely. So, if you would like, we can go there tonight. If you want to stay the night, then perhaps Kreacher could help arrange that."

The girls looked at each other and quickly agreed that it sounded like it would be a wonderful new adventure. Harry shook his head in wonder. "The only problem is that we're currently in a muggle restaurant," he said as he tried to figure out how to best get them all to 12 Grimmauld Place. "I suppose we could go back to my flat and I could call Kreacher, my house elf."

"No good," said Daphne, "I still think your place is too dangerous."

"It's still well warded," protested Harry.

"No sense making anything easier by letting someone see you come and go," added Susan.

"Oh, all right," relented Harry.

"Spoken like a gentleman," said Daphne with a smile. "Is there a nearby apparition point that either one of you know about?"

Susan just rolled her eyes at Daphne, "We're just a few blocks from Diagon Alley, we can walk back there, and we can figure it out as we go along." She then turned to Harry, "Can you use the floo network to get into the house?"

"I can floo into it, but the wards won't let either one of you in," he stated. "But if we head back to the Leaky Cauldron, I can get it into the house, and then I can adjust the wards, and then have Kreacher fetch you one at a time. He can pop you back to your places, and then bring you straight on over to my house."

"That should work just fine," said Daphne.

Thirty minutes later Harry was giving the two women a tour of the renovated Black family homestead, which had been cleaned and repainted. It was no longer quite so dark and dreary. Kreacher had even removed the portrait of his former mistress from the wall as Harry had insisted that he take a full room for himself and he allowed him to keep some of his own treasures and trinkets in there, including the collection of former Black house elves that had been honoured so that Kreacher could make sure that they received the proper respect that they were due.

Once they had been throughout the home, Harry looked at the girls. "I suppose you may want to pick out a room. I was planning on using Sirius' old room."

Daphne looked up and down the hallway and then looked at Harry, "Which room did you use when you stayed here before? You did mention you were here in the past."

Harry pointed out which room he has stayed in during the summers and occasionally during some of the holidays during fifth year. Daphne smiled as she stated she wanted to pick that room. Susan then said she would be happy with any room in the house, and decided to take one next to Harry's room. The two women eyed each other carefully after they made their choices and Harry just shook his head as he calmly added, "This still isn't a competition, you know."

The two smiled thinly at him as they both tried to relax a little at his words. Susan then spoke up as she brought up the question of Draco and Hermione. "Do you know if they are back at the apartment or where they might be? Perhaps they should be here. We did talk about telling them to come over here to be safer."

Harry nodded and then he called Kreacher. "Could you go find my friend, Hermione. She is with my cousin, Draco, most likely, and he is related to the Blacks, his mother is Narcissa. Please let them know that they are welcome to come here tonight as it might be safer for them here than at the apartment where Draco and I have been staying."

Kreacher then bowed slightly, "Very well, Master Harry, I will try and find the muggle born and the fair skinned whelp."

Susan couldn't help but laugh as the elf disappeared with a pop. "Is he always so surly?" she asked.

Harry responded with a slight grimace, "This is Kreacher when he is being well behaved. He used to treat me with scorn. That was until I started my quest in earnest to defeat Riddle. Once I destroyed a certain item that was part of what I was doing last year in order to prepare for that final confrontation he became much more pleasant."

"You already told us about the locket that you destroyed," reminded Daphne.

"Right," said Harry. "Before that, he only referred to me as the filthy half blood master or some such nonsense. He was even part of the conspiracy that set me up at the end of fifth year when I stupidly went running into a trap at the Ministry of Magic thinking I needed to save my godfather. All that did was end up getting Sirius killed for real, and Hermione and Ron hurt, and the rest of us humiliated."

"That's not the way I heard it," said Susan. "My aunt spoke highly of you and your friends. How the five of you held off a group of experienced and high ranking Death Eaters who were out to kill some of you even if they only wanted to capture you. How you were even subjected to the cruciatus curse from Riddle himself, and then you were possessed by him but forced him out. Plus, you proved to that idiot Fudge and the rest of the world that you were not lying, that Voldemort really was back. You proved you were brave, that you were powerful, and that you were honest and true. If you didn't notice, no one in Slytherin, or in any house for that matter, really wanted to mess with you ever again after that."

Daphne agreed with her, "She's right you know. We all were quite impressed, even if no one would dare admit it. I think everyone was too scared about The Dark Lord's return as well as the fact that you had actually faced him, again, and once again survived. Because it did prove your story from the end of fourth year. Adults, teachers, fully trained Aurors were scared to ever face him, but you kept doing it, year in and year out."

Just then there was the sound of a pop as Kreacher arrived. "The two extra guests will be ready to join you shortly. They said something about needing a few minutes to find a way to descend."

The three looked at each other and then at the house elf when suddenly Daphne laughed, "Maybe they said 'to get decent.' Who knew they would be so randy?"

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

The next morning the group woke up and gathered for breakfast that Kreacher happily prepared for everyone in the kitchen. Harry discovered that his elf had arranged for delivery of the Daily Prophet, and he opened up the paper and he saw the cover story was about the attack at Diagon Alley.

**Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Attacked!**

_Terror once again strikes in Diagon Alley as an explosion destroyed the front of the infamous joke shop that has become a popular attraction to students and children in the middle of the shopping district. Reports from the DMLE indicate that after school had opened this year, the owner, George Weasley, had closed the store for restocking and researching new product. This may have saved numerous lives as the only people present at the time of the attack were the owner George Weasley and his wife, Angelina, and his assistant Lee Jordan. All three apparently survived the horrifying attack and are getting care at St. Mungo's. The latest report is that their conditions are serious but we have not been able to obtain any further details._

_Several bystanders sustained minor injuries when the force of the explosion knocked them to the ground. Aurors quickly arrived on the scene and soon were helping with the injured and with the investigation into the incident. They bravely entered the damaged building to rescue the victims and helped with stabilising their injuries before they were taken to St. Mungo's for definitive treatment. _

_Auror Captain Bagley discovered a note that had been attached to the charred structure. This note apparently was magically sent by the mysterious Shadow Lord who claimed responsibility for the attack as vengeance against owners of the shop. The note stated that they had scarred Mr. Weasley just as Mr. Weasley had left a scar on them._

_But the question still remains, who is this mysterious attacker, and why is he after George Weasley and his associates? Who else is he after and why does he claim that the ministry will be powerless to stop him? Do we have another Dark Lord on the rise so soon after Harry Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?_

_With such attacks occurring in our world so soon after the end of the last great wizarding war, it makes us ask, where is our famous Boy-Who-Lived? Why has he decided to go into seclusion? Does he have something to hide or has he had enough of our society and felt betrayed by his friends too many times? Rumours abound that even he was attacked this summer in the middle of muggle London. However, he has been unable to be reached to confirm or deny the truth to this story. He was however seen at the Weasley's shop just before the mysterious note appeared taking the blame for the explosion. Could Mr. Potter be the elusive Shadow Lord? He does have a scar! But the note indicates that the Shadow Lord is out for revenge and the reaction of the Aurors indicate that the Shadow Lord is the one who was behind the attack against Mr. Potter and that he is probably a renegade Death Eater that somehow eluded capture at the end of the Battle of Hogwarts. _

_So our best educated guess would be that this individual has a vendetta against both Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, and possibly against others as well. So dear readers, we still need to all be careful, and we hope that the DMLE will do its job and bring this Shadow Lord to justice swiftly and surely!_

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~


	11. Chapter 11 - Task force or more tasks

Ron Weasley woke up and made his way down to breakfast. When he arrived in the kitchen of the Burrow, he realised that something was wrong. There was no aroma of food cooking, there was no sound of bacon crackling as it cooked, and there was no one anywhere to be found. Ron rubbed his tired eyes and soon he found a note left behind from his mother indicating that the others in the family had gone to check on George and Angelina at St. Mungo's. Ronald initially felt like he was left alone to starve, but he quickly determined that he could just use the floo and head over to the Leaky Cauldron.

As he was finishing his breakfast, he started thinking about the recent events and the explosion that destroyed his brother's business as well as injured George, Angelina and Lee. The more he thought about what had happened, the angrier he became with the situation. Something finally clicked in Ron and motivated him to do something about the whole situation, so he stood up, walked up to Tom and paid for his meal before he made his way down Diagon Alley to the scene of the crime, the remains of the shop that his brothers had opened.

The Aurors were still investigating the damaged building, searching for any possible clues beyond what they had already discovered. Ron arrived and just stared at the rubble from a distance at first and initially he was amazed that anyone had been able to survive. Slowly he made his way closer to the building and then he began to look around at the damage from a closer vantage point. The magical note that had been left behind was still attached to the charred entrance to the building. Ron started to read the message when one of the Aurors questioned who he was and what he was doing.

"I'm Ronald Weasley," he commented dryly, "this is, or at least it was, my brother's shop. I wanted to get a closer look at just what happened. If things had been a little different, I might have been here too when this all happened."

The Auror winced slightly at hearing Ron's response and had nothing to say so he just turned and went back to his job searching for any other evidence. Ron, however went back to studying the parchment.

"_You left me scarred after you tried to capture me_…"

Ron considered the opening words as he played back the Battle of Hogwarts in his mind. He and Hermione had been fighting together, but what had George and Fred and Lee been doing? Then he remembered something that they had boasted about, or more like someone who they had boasted about. He didn't remember anything about a scar, but something seemed to make more sense. Ron quickly turned and made his way to the Leaky Cauldron and flooed away.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

That same morning, at Hogwarts, Ginny Weasley had already returned and at breakfast several of her friends were trying to comfort her upon hearing the news of what had happened to her brother and Angelina and to Lee Jordan.

Luna silently gave her a hug as she sat down next to her at the Gryffindor table, and then Dennis Creevy sat across from them and smiled at the two, trying to comfort them as well. Several other Gryffindor students arrived for breakfast and quickly said hello and offered their condolences as well as encouragement and commented how glad that they were to see her back at school.

The Daily Prophet had arrived that morning and Luna was already reading the paper which had an update on the investigation into the explosion. Luna started laughing as she was reading a story and the other students just stared at her. Finally one student spoke up, "It isn't funny what happened."

"No, you don't understand," explained Luna. "The paper can't even keep their own stories straight. They had an article earlier that reported that their were rumours that Harry Potter had been attacked this summer after they had previously reported the facts about Harry and Draco being attacked. Its like they have bad writers or something."

"Or one bad writer who can't even keep their own story straight," commented someone else at the table.

"Maybe they need a new editor," offered someone else from across the table.

"Or an editor who at least knows what they're doing, or maybe the writer will learn to keep their facts straight from now on," suggested Luna.

"Maybe your father can get another interview with Harry again for the Quibbler, and get the real story about what he has been doing this summer," commented Ginny.

Luna smiled, "I don't think Harry has the time for that, he still seems rather busy with everything."

"What makes you say that?" asked Ginny.

Luna smiled awkwardly, as she turned the paper over and showed her the cover story.

The Daily Prophet had a picture of Harry with Susan and Daphne in Diagon Alley all together on the cover.

The headline read: **Does the Boy-Who-Lived Have Two Girlfriends Now? **

_Rumours abound that he is both Lord Potter and Lord Black. It is possible that he may need a Lady Potter and a Lady Black depending on the rules for each house? While the young lord has not been seen in public that much this past summer, apparently he has been keeping himself quite busy. Several witches and wizards reported seeing the Tri-Wizard Champion from just a few years ago escorting both Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass into Gringotts Bank at Diagon Alley. Both of these witches had been classmates of the young Lord and have also been scarcely seen since the end of the Great War this past May…_

Ginny just shook her head in frustration at seeing the story, and she didn't bother to read any more of the gossip about Harry and by this time she knew she had no chance at ever getting back together with him. But she also knew Harry well enough to understand that he would hate this kind of publicity. And she also knew that this story was being read throughout the wizarding world this morning which wouldn't make Harry any happier.

Elsewhere within the Great Hall, there was a certain group of students sitting at the Slytherin table who began to hatch a plan to help out the Shadow Lord as they read the same article. Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott spoke in hushed tones as they leaned together while reviewing details of the story.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

The Minister for Magic expected that the public outcry over such an occurrence as the destruction of the Weasleys' joke shop in the middle of Diagon Alley would force action to take place. Particularly with this happening so soon after the end of the war with Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Shacklebolt knew he had to take action, and do it quickly and do it in a way that would reassure witches and wizards throughout magical Britain. So Kingsley called this meeting of the head of the DMLE as well as the lead Aurors to discuss what they knew about the events of the bombing as well as any of the other incidents that had occurred over the summer so far, particularly the attack against Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.

Gawain Robards was not happy with the meeting. While he wanted to catch the perpetrators, he didn't want to rush the investigation. And now he had the minister bringing up the attack against Potter and Malfoy, and Robards decided he had to speak his mind. "We can't overlook the simple fact that Malfoy hasn't even been tried yet for his part in the war," he stated bluntly.

Kingsley leaned back into his chair and eyed his department head carefully. "And your point in bringing this up now is what exactly?"

"The young man apparently was marked when he was a student," stated Robards sharply. "He was reportedly involved in the death of Dumbledore. He was a Slytherin. Dammit, he's the son of Lucius Malfoy, isn't that enough reason not to trust him?"

Auror Captain Bagley spoke up next, "We brought Malfoy in for questioning after the attack earlier this summer. I was not told we needed to detain him. We have been able to get in touch with him when we need him. He doesn't seem to be a runner, he doesn't act like 'dear old dad'. But Potter seems to trust him, if that's worth anything."

Shacklebolt nodded at Bagley, "Since Director Robards brings up the death of Albus Dumbledore, it is difficult to say or do anything about that. Our investigation at that time, and I was one of the Aurors who conducted the investigation, indicated that someone let the Death Eaters into the school and it probably _was_ Malfoy. Harry Potter is the one who told us it probably was, however we have no proof, short of using veritas serum. The only eye witnesses to the event of Dumbledore's death that we ever interviewed was Harry Potter. The others who were present at the time are all dead, other than Draco Malfoy. Potter explicitly told us that Draco refused to kill Dumbledore, that he merely disarmed him. Potter eventually learned that Dumbledore was aware that there was a plot against him that involved Draco. Severus Snape was aware of the plot as well. Snape is the one who actually killed Dumbledore, but we now know that was done because Albus Dumbledore allowed it as he knew he was about to die from a curse that was untreatable. So, Draco Malfoy was a puppet used by both sides in the death of Albus Dumbledore, a death that the man himself did nothing to stop. I don't see how we can use any of that as something to hold against the youngest Malfoy."

Robards was still irritated by the situation. "What about Malfoy's involvement with letting the Death Eaters into Hogwarts in the first place that night? What about all of the other stuff he did while he was a student?"

Kingsley sighed briefly as he considered what his director was saying. "We can't try the man in absentia tonight, and while from the stories I heard, he was a nasty git to be sure, he would need to be tried for his actions from that year and I honestly have no idea what the outcome would be. Considering his last name and his father's reputation, could he even get a fair trial?"

The minister's question was met with some murmuring.

Finally Auror Captain Bagley spoke up, "I thought this meeting was to discuss this Shadow Lord and the recent event at Diagon Alley."

Shacklebolt quickly agreed. "In the past, the ministry tried to cover up such problems. We need to address this. The public knows about the attack, as there is no way to hide what happened. They have questions. We need to let people know we are dealing with this, and not ignoring it."

"Of course," agreed Robards, "what do you think we are doing?"

"I know you're doing all that you can do, but we need to make sure the public knows that," explained Kingsley. "People learned to distrust the ministry after Fudge and Thickness and all of the corruption spread by Riddle and his lot."

"So, what do you suggest?" questioned director Robards, obviously irritated with the entire meeting.

"I believe we need to create a task force for dealing with this Shadow Lord, and we need to invite Harry Potter to help out with the task force," stated the minister.

"You've got to be kidding," protested Robards. "He's just a kid, he's barely out of school. Some of his classmates are still in school!"

Kingsley Shacklebolt was clearly very serious as his face was stern and he was frowning at Robards and his protests. "Do you forget so quickly that this young man recently defeated Tom Riddle and ended the last wizard war single handedly? That this wizard whom you just called, 'just a kid', is one of the most powerful young wizards I have ever encountered. During his time at Hogwarts he faced Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, on at least 5 separate occasions, and obviously he survived each time. Who else is more qualified to face any potential rising dark lord? Harry was targeted in the first attack. Harry Potter is also the financial backer, the silent partner behind Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, so to me, he is the common denominator in all of this."

Robards shook his head to show he was not about to disagree with the minister.

Shacklebolt continued, "We will not make the same mistakes as Fudge did, we will not deny the threat, we will not deny Harry's ability to help us either. Besides, he is looked upon as a hero to most of the magical world, we could use a bit of goodwill from the masses, as it were, right about now, and if we can get it though Harry Potter, then so be it."

"So, you would have us fetch this untrained young man and follow him?" asked Gawain Robards.

"I didn't say he needs to lead your task force," corrected the minister, "I simply was trying to emphasise the many reasons why he would be an asset to the team."

"I met him when I investigated the first attack," commented Auror Captain Bagley. "I think he's a fine young man. We all know the stories about him, about the war, the things he did. His experiences alone make him more qualified and better trained than most of my men, and that is not meant to disparage anyone."

Kingsley raised an eyebrow as he looked Bagley up and down. Then he turned to Robards. "Perhaps we have just found the leader for the task force. Please let Harry know as soon as possible. And make sure he knows that I have personally requested his involvement in this task force. Then once he has agreed to participate, make sure the press knows we have a task force looking into the whole situation, and who is leading the task force, and who is involved with it."

Everyone sat still and just stared at the minister. After a moment he quietly dismissed them, "I think we are done here. I'm sure you all have jobs to do. Very important jobs I might add."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Ginny Weasley was making her way down a hallway after lunch when she overheard some other students make some loud comments which she quickly determined were directed at her. The shrill nasal quality one of the voices made it clear to her who was leading the group even before she saw the silver and green trim on the robes and the tie.

Leaning against a suit of armour and trying to look casual, Pansy Parkinson called out to her, "I heard your brother had a slight accident,"

Ginny stopped and turned and faced Pansy, not sure what to make of her comment, so she remained quiet. Several of Ginny's friends came up and stood beside her as they overheard the verbal harassment begin.

"He probably just got what was coming to him," Pansy added, "considering everything he's done over the years, and particularly during the war."

Ginny was about to respond, but Luna just pulled on the sleeve of her robes as she commented, "Pansy must be infested with nargles, mean and spiteful nargles, but nargles nonetheless."

Ginny struggled to keep herself from showing any emotion in front of the bitter Slytherin girl. Pansy just stared at the blonde Ravenclaw in bewilderment wondering what that statement was about.

Theodore Nott beckoned for Pansy to leave, "Don't waste your time with that lot, they think they won last spring. But soon they'll see just how wrong they are. Just like her brother learned and just like Potter will learn real soon, too." With that comment and a tilt of his head, Pansy and a few other Slytherins made their way down the hall as they followed Nott.

Luna tried to comfort Ginny over the brief encounter she had just experienced. "You know they're just trying to get you riled up," she said with more straightforward calm than Ginny was used to hearing from Luna. "You must have seen Harry the other day, you know he's fine and that he can take care of himself. Don't waste your time worrying about idle threats from people like Pansy and Teddy."

Some of the other students overheard Luna's comments that Harry had been by to see George and that Ginny had seen him that day.

"How is he?" called out one voice.

"My brother," replied Ginny, "he's doing okay. He and Lee Jordan and Angelina are recovering fine."

"No, Harry, Harry Potter," clarified the student in the crowd that had gathered around Ginny by this time. "I heard a rumour that Harry Potter went to St. Mungo's to see your brother. Did you see Harry?"

Ginny sighed as she answered, "I didn't really get to speak with him, although he did chat briefly with Ron."

Dennis Creevy spoke up next, "Did you get to talk to Ron? What's going on with Harry? Did Harry say much?"

Ginny rolled her eyes at all of the questions. "He didn't say much, he was busy and had to leave to go to another meeting. And no he didn't say who he was meeting with. I already told you, I didn't speak with Harry."

"But you must know something about what Harry's up to," commented one of the girls. "At least more than what the Daily Prophet tells us about his hanging out with Bones and Greengrass."

Ginny shook her head as she looked around at the group of students. She realised that most of them were Gryffindors, so she decided to tell them what little she did know about Harry. "I think he works in muggle London, he didn't say where. Yes, he has seen Hermione, I didn't hear anything else. That much he told to Ron. And no we're not dating, and no I'm not discussing that article in the Daily Prophet."

With those words she turned and started to make her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Andromeda Tonks was busy working at her office. She had gone over the numbers several times and she was increasingly sure that she had not made a mistake. It was clear that someone was trying to cover up multiple attempts at diversion of funds. Upon confirming that the evidence was clear, she made her way to Gringotts for an impromptu meeting with Ragnok.

Ragnok was not in a good mood to say the least upon reviewing the information displayed in front of him. Someone had been trying to cover their tracks in their attempts to illegally divert funds out of several vaults, vaults that had recently become the property of a certain Lord Potter-Black.

The bank director let out what sounded like a low growl as he placed the folder down in front of him. Then he looked up at Andromeda Tonks. "The responsible party or parties for this deed may have thought they could get away with this because the individuals had died or were part of the Death Eaters. But as the assets for these families were given over to Lord Potter-Black, this theft or attempted theft shall clearly not go unpunished. And it has not gone unnoticed. We will uncover this and the consequences will be most unpleasant for those involved, of that you can be sure."

Ragnok closed the file and shook his head. "Dishonour will not blemish our kind. It will be found. It will be expunged."

Andromeda nodded in understanding, as she had worked with the goblins before, she knew that they valued their reputation in handling money and controlling vaults. "I appreciate what ever further information you may have for me on this matter once it becomes available."

Ragnok simply bowed his head as he inclined to her request. "We shall meet again tomorrow to discuss what further developments we both have made in this situation."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Harry had returned to 12 Grimmauld Place that evening to find his two girlfriends as well as Draco and Hermione waiting for him in the dining room.

"It appears that Kreacher already has dinner prepared for us," announce Hermione.

Harry was a little surprised to see that and he quietly made his way to the head of the table where Daphne and Susan were already seated at either side.

Daphne spoke up first, "So, how has your day been?"

Harry shook his head slightly, "With all of the recent events it seems that the ministry in their infinite wisdom has decided to put together a task force to deal with this new threat, this Shadow Lord. And someone decided that Harry Potter might make a wonderful poster child for said task force." Harry just stared down at his plate, choosing to ignore everyone in the room for now.

Susan spoke up next, "That's wonderful! At last they acknowledge your skill and talent! It's a lot better than how they treated you for years when we were all in school!"

Harry didn't even respond to her words and Susan realised that perhaps she said something wrong. She first looked over to Daphne who shook her head indicating that was the wrong thing to have said to Harry. Susan then turned to Hermione hoping for more of an explanation.

Hermione understood the silent question and Harry's frustration. She momentarily debated internally whether or not she should say anything, and then quickly concluded that it would best for all present that she explain things this once for Harry's sake. "Harry has never liked his fame, he has never wanted to be thrust into these situations," she began and she noted him look at her slightly as he raised his head and gave her a slight smile indicating that he was happy she had understood him so well. "For the ministry to just assume that Harry would want to jump right in and help goes against everything that Harry was trying to do this summer, which was trying to get away from the magical world."

Daphne picked up on what Hermione was saying, "And now he's had to leave his muggle flat and moved back into this family home filled with magic."

"And be drawn back into the middle of another magical battle," added Susan as the two of them began to understand Harry's frustration.

"Just another chapter in the wonderful messed up life of Harry Potter," he added.

Daphne reached out and took one of Harry's hands gently, trying to comfort him. Harry was actually surprised that it was Daphne who had reached out to him before Susan tonight, but he knew that both of the girls cared. When he looked up from where Daphne was caressing his hand he noted that Hermione was paying attention to Draco who seemed to be lost in his own world of concern. He wondered what was bothering Malfoy. The odd silence in the room was broken when Daphne quietly asked if anyone had any ideas who the Shadow Lord might be.

Hermione answered the question by listing the facts as they were known to the group. "Obviously, it is someone who is after Harry and or Draco, and for some reason also after George Weasley. So far the only clue they have left behind is the one that was left at the Weasley's shop."

Susan added, "That could be almost any Death Eater or member of Slytherin. Anyone who was ever pranked by the Weasley twins and supported Voldemort."

"Not just anyone," corrected Daphne. "This is someone who also was willing to risk everything by tracking Hermione and powerful enough to get Hermione to try and do their work for them. Someone who was hurt in some way by George Weasley at some point, but we don't know how."

"Someone who is out for revenge," continued Hermione.

"Which is what makes him so dangerous," added Draco.

Noticing the questioning looks from everyone around the table Draco explained his statement. "Whoever this person is, they're not going for the same result as the Dark Lord was. The Shadow Lord doesn't care about winning by taking over the ministry. There is no propaganda being dispersed. The message left for Weasley was simple. 'I hurt you and I can keep on hurting you.' He's not trying to take over. He's trying to cause pain. He's an anarchist. He wants revenge. He wants to cause pain, to inflict damage, and then he wants to kill one or more of us. And probably cause as much collateral damage as possible."

Susan shivered at the chilling message. Hermione closed her eyes to try and shut out the images. Harry shook his head as he considered that once again he was being dragged into a battle he never wanted to be involved in but that he couldn't avoid. Daphne simply squeezed Harry's hand a little tighter.

Harry then simply stated, "I do this, we do this, and then I'm gone. I've had enough of this."

He turned to look at Susan as he added, "Things were wonderful this summer when we were just having fun, going to the parks, ignoring the magical world, just the two of us."

Then he turned to Daphne, "Going out dancing together was magical enough for me."

Then he faced to group, "I'm ready to leave this whole place behind once this sordid mess is dealt with."

Daphne and Susan quickly agreed. Hermione, however, had a pained look on her face. Harry quickly understood her concerns. "My education," she said, "I'm about to start working on my degree."

"That's fine," said Harry supportively, "and we're about to move into the estate just down the road from there. No one else that is magical needs to know where we will be, and I don't want anyone finding out. You could also transfer to another school, if you wanted to. We don't have to stay in England."

Then he looked to Draco and he noted his pained expression. "Is there something else going on, Draco?"

The girls all turned to look at him as well.

Draco started to blush slightly with all of the attention. He took a deep breath before he answered Harry. "It seems that I have been unable to contact my mother recently, which is unusual, and it has me a little concerned. That is all."

Before Hermione or any of the girls could respond to Draco's stiff comment, a loud but low sounding gong rang throughout Grimmauld place.

"What on earth was that?" asked a startled Hermione as everyone turned to Harry, expecting that he might know.

Harry's face betrayed his worried expression.

"I do believe that was a signal set up by the goblins," he stated ominously. "The wards at the flat have collapsed. Someone must have triggered them, to their own regret I am sure."

Hermione paled at the implication.

Harry looked at her and smiled gently. "Yes, we know that the Shadow Lord learned of our location, and obviously he set someone to attack us there." He tried to comfort her with his words. "But we didn't stay there. Kreacher removed all of our things already. And we are safe here, they have previously tried to enter here and were unsuccessful. Besides, soon we will move to the new manor house that no one else knows about."

Susan was equally disturbed at the thought of what was implied by the sound of the gong. "But what about whoever tried to break into your apartment? What if they try something else?"

Draco gave a low laugh and shook his head at Susan's question. Susan spun around to glare at him, but Daphne spoke up to explain to both Susan and Hermione. "Harry already explained that the goblins warded the apartment. Whoever tried to break in and attack Harry and or Draco, well, at best, they didn't survive the attempt."

Hermione's jaw dropped at Daphne's words. "At best? What could be worse than being killed trying to break into the apartment?"

Daphne looked up at the ceiling for a moment and then looked at Hermione, "Oh, I don't know, maybe being port keyed directly into a goblin dungeon or slave mine? Or perhaps into a goblin dragon handlers pen. Or maybe being…"

Hermione cut her off, "Okay, okay, I think I get the point!" She stared at Daphne for a moment and then she held her head in her hands. After another minute she looked up at Harry. "If the wards are so powerful, then how did I get through, when I was…" she began to stutter on her words.

"When you were imperiused to attack us? That's actually quite simple," explained Harry, "you were already keyed into the wards. They were not intent based but individual based."

Hermione still seemed confused. "But if that were the case, then it would have been foolish for anyone to follow an order from the Shadow Lord to try and attack you at the apartment, the wards would repel anyone but us."

Daphne laughed again. "That's the problem with most wizards, they would never have seen the wards. Harry just explained that they were goblin designed wards. Whomever was foolish enough to attack was probably only looking for wards they could detect, wards made by wizards, not goblins. Goblins use a different warding scheme, and by doing so, they can easily mask their wards if a wizard doesn't know what they're looking for."

Draco scoffed, "The Shadow Lord set up the message to appear after he destroyed the Weasley's shop."

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

Draco rubbed his brow and then he began to explain the issue. "It means that the Shadow Lord is no slouch. He knows his magic and he can do some advanced transfiguration. He clearly wasn't the one who blew up the building though, he would have sent one or more others to do it for him. He sent others to attack Harry and I earlier this summer. He even sent a couple of low ranking jerks to try and break into here, probably to see if it could be done. He didn't care if they got caught trying to do it. He obviously didn't care that who ever just got taken out going after the flat just snuffed it. Hell, he probably figured they would."

"But why would he do that?" asked Susan.

"Chess," said Harry. "He's playing a game of chess, and he doesn't care about sacrificing his pawns. Ron would do it all of the time if it would help him win the game."

"But we don't know what this guy's game is," added Draco. "We don't know what he is playing at. Beyond revenge and trying to hurt you, and Weasley, and possibly me."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

The next day found Andromeda Tonks in another meeting with Ragnok. The goblin leader was not in a particularly pleasant mood. His office was otherwise empty and Andy had noted that there were several heavily armed goblin guards at the door when she had ben escorted in to meet with the bank director.

"We have finished our own investigation and our follow up inquiries during the night," he began. Before she could ask for further explanation Ragnok gave her more details. "A few unsavoury types were found out who have brought dishonour to the goblin nation. There were bribes accepted from a former Death Eater. We have frozen a number of accounts that had been attempted to be accessed while we look into this further. Meanwhile, once we finish extracting all of the information from those that were involved, there will be a final reckoning."

Andromeda briefly paled at the thought of what Ragnok's comments implied. She then gathered her wits and continued with her meeting as she asked about the accounts. "Can you tell me just which accounts have been affected?"

Ragnok placed his hand on a stack of files in front of him as he began to answer her question. "Many of the accounts that have been affected are ones that have been assimilated by Lord Potter-Black, and there was also an attempt to gain access to Heir Malfoy's assets. While there was some tampering, I am assured by the accountants that no funds were misappropriated but we will have a full accounting completed by early this afternoon. The frozen assets will not affect the majority of either of their holdings, so I do not expect that it should be any inconvenience to either of the young men."

"That is most appreciated," replied Andromeda. "But what of this tampering with Heir Malfoy's account? What would they expect to gain from that? Lucius, Narcissa, and young Draco are all still alive. No one else could even think to lay claim to the title."

Ragnok paused for a moment before he answered. "Information is clearly what was sought."

Andromeda tilted her head slightly, not understanding what kind of information that the Death Eaters could possibly be searching for.

Ragnok rubbed his chin briefly before he continued. "Lord Malfoy is still in a holding cell awaiting his trial, which should take place shortly. Heir Draco is known to be with Lord Potter-Black. Most people, wizards and witches that is, have not known where Lady Malfoy has been since the end of the war in May or June. Your sister has not made many friends."

"But other than Malfoy Manor, their other properties are secure," commented Andromeda, "even I don't know where they are located."

Ragnok did not respond to Andromeda's statement.

Suddenly Andromeda gasped. "But the bank records here might indicate the locations of their properties!"

Ragnok silently nodded with a solemn look on his face.

"But can't you add extra wards for protection?" she asked.

"Only the master, or owner can commission such wards," replied Ragnok, clearly not happy to relay such news to Narcissa's sister.

"So, whoever accessed this information, may have the addresses of other Malfoy properties and may be able to find Narcissa," stated Andromeda.

"I do believe that was already established as our concern," acknowledged Ragnok.

"Bloody hell," muttered Andromeda as she stood up, "I think I need to go speak with a couple of young men."

As she turned to leave his office, Ragnok offered her one more piece of information, "If anything further turns up, or if we have any leads on to Lady Malfoy's whereabouts, we will be sure to share this information with you, Madam Tonks."

Andromeda had paused at the door and bowed slightly to the goblin, "Thank you, Lord Ragnok, that is most gracious of you." With that she turned to leave and make her way to find her grandson's godfather.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Neither Draco nor Harry were particularly pleased with the information they had received from Andromeda. The women had stayed behind at Grimmauld place, at Harry's instance despite their arguments. Draco's defence of Harry's position was that he could only side along apparate one person at a time, which Hermione began to counter argue as well, but before she could finish her point, the two young men had already disappeared to Merlin knows where, which was precisely where they found themselves.

Harry stared at the empty cottage in front of him. It appeared quite nice, and seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. From what he could determine, someone had been here recently.

Draco came back out from the cottage with a frown. "My mum has been here, but not for at least a day or two, perhaps longer. I don't think anyone else has been here either."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" asked Harry.

"I think so," commented Draco, who was still worried. "I'm sure she's not at the manor, the ministry has been crawling all over that place since the end of the war. I'm not sure if I ever want to go back there, with everything that has happened there."

Harry simply nodded.

"Too many dark memories," Draco said, "too many…" his voice trailed off and Harry had a fairly good idea what memories Draco was trying to forget.

"So where exactly are we now?" asked Harry, hoping to change the topic.

"Exactly?I can't tell you that. Not because I don't know, but because you can't know," Draco explained. "But we are in Wales." He looked around where they were standing. "I guess I never appreciated how pretty it is around here. I suppose we ought to check another place as well."

"Where is that?"

Draco shook his head, "You know I can't just tell you these things, Potter." He reached out and grabbed Harry's sleeve and then they apparated together to a large field.

Draco looked around and he could tell that the wards were all still in place. Harry looked and all he could see was a large open field.

"Where are we now?"

Draco just smiled, "That you'll just have to continue to wonder about. Since the wards are all still in place, I know that no one else has been here for quite some time. Not even my mum."

Harry just nodded his head, "Well, okay then." He noted that Draco was however getting quite frustrated.

"We need to get back to Gringotts," commented Draco. "We need to know who it was who was getting the information about the vaults and manipulating things."

Harry let out a sigh, "Ragnok said they would have that information soon, and once they had that information they would give it to us. But that won't necessarily tell us who the Shadow Lord is, or even where your mother is."

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" demanded Draco. "I don't want to just sit and wait while I know he has people trying to track down my mother. We need to find the Shadow Lord."

"Yes, and the Ministry has a task force that is supposed to be working on it," added Harry.

"Which you are supposed to be a part of," commented Draco.

"That I am," said Harry as he conjured a couple of chairs so they could sit down. "Perhaps we could use that to our advantage. I could find out what information the ministry has on the Shadow Lord, and we use that for ourselves."

Draco eyed Harry suspiciously. "You're not going to work with this task force?"

"When has the ministry actually helped me in the past? Oh, I'll show up to their meeting, at least once," replied Harry. "I told them I would be there tomorrow. But in the mean time, I want to gather all the information I can on my own."

"So now what do we do?" asked Draco.

"We go to St. Mungo's," said Harry simply as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"And how will that help?"

"If Ragnok discover's anything from the investigation he is doing at Gringotts, he will let us know," Harry began to explain. "However, in the meantime, we have to speak with George Weasley and Lee Jordan, as they are the one's who may understand the clue left behind by the Shadow Lord. The one that was left at their shop."

Several minutes later, Harry and Draco were walking into the entrance at St. Mungo's. Harry checked at the reception desk to see if George Weasley had been moved and he was directed to his room location. Once they reached the ward where George and Lee were located, they noticed that the Weasley family was still all crowded around George and Angelina and Lee Jordan's bedsides.

Draco looked at Harry, "There is no way that we can get in there and speak with them. They would never let me through and they would be too busy fawning over you to let you even talk to them, you'll never get a chance to find anything out."

Harry nodded in agreement. Then he turned and walked up to one of the nearby nursing desks and asked one of the women who was helping, "Excuse me miss, but what time are visiting hours?"

"Visiting hours are from 8 in the morning until 8 at night," she said with a smile.

"Thank you very much," replied Harry.

Harry turned and walked away with Draco following him. "We'll be back at 9 with my invisibility cloak," he said to Draco as they left the hospital.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

At Grimmauld Place, Daphne had ventured into the library and was perusing some of the older books in the back of the large room. She quickly surmised that the room must have been magically enchanted to be larger than it appeared, much like many of the rooms at Hogwarts. As she was pulling on of the books off of a shelf she heard some footsteps from behind her.

"You really shouldn't be in here," stated Hermione.

Daphne rolled her eyes before turning around. "Now, why is that, might I ask?"

Hermione shifted back and forth as she prepared to answer, feeling uncomfortable under the glare from the former Slytherin witch. "Well, when we were here a few years ago, and we were helping to clean, Mrs. Weasley warned us that there were many dark books and dark items here in the library and that we should be careful."

Daphne couldn't stop herself from laughing. "First of all, Molly Weasley wouldn't know what was dark from what was just simply Black family magic, and Hermione, there really is a difference. And I might add, that if I'm going to be Lady Black, which I am, I think I should become familiar with the Black Family Library and the Family Grimoire."

Hermione bit her lip. "But, you're only dating Harry, you're not the Lady Black yet, it still could be dangerous."

Daphne smiled at Hermione. "I am his intended. We have talked about this. I am to be his Lady Black." She could tell that Hermione was not convinced, so she called for Kreacher.

"Yes, Mistress Daphne," croaked the old house elf, "how may I be helping you this day?"

"Kreacher, I have a question for you," she began, "am I allowed to be in the library? And furthermore, am I allowed access to the family tomes and spell books? Or perhaps for clarification, are there any restrictions on what books or items I should not have access to either here in the library or in the house?"

Kreacher looked between Hermione and Daphne and then he seemed to understand. "Mistress Daphne is soon to be the Lady Black. Magic itself recognises her to be the Lady of this house already. As such there are no restrictions on your being anywhere in the house, and it is expected that you should learn the family magics as soon as possible. It would be best for you to be able to help Lord Potter-Black in this way."

Hermione was astounded as she heard what the house elf had said.

Daphne simply went to pick up the Black Family Grimoire, as Hermione gasped.

"But that's dark magic!"

Daphne shook her head. "It is family magic, family magic that I should be learning, as you just heard Kreacher explain."

Susan had arrived in the library by this time, looking for the other two and she had overheard everything from before Kreacher had arrived. She then took Hermione by the arm and escorted her away from the library.

"It is Daphne and Harry's library, not mine, not yours," she said softly. "I know how much you love to learn and to study and to read, but this is one time you really need to step away. Mrs. Weasley may have been right about one thing, it is dark magic to those who don't understand or to those who are not accepted by the magic. This is family magic, and I won't be a part of the Black family, only the Potter family. I'm only a guest here, too, just like you."

Then Susan and Hermione made their way back down stairs to the kitchen to wait for Harry and Draco to return.

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Two wizards were walking around an old manor house. They found the home to be empty. After fifteen minutes of investigating they apparated away and then they approached the large room in the warehouse.

The Shadow Lord spoke, "So, what did you find?"

The first man answered, "There are no signs of anyone being at Malfoy Manor. The entire estate in Wiltshire seems to be empty, no one seems to be there, and she probably hasn't been there for several months at least."

"What about her son?" asked the second man. "We could just grab him, we know where he is at, don't we?"

The Shadow Lord shook his head. "Don't be a fool. If he knows anything, he won't give up her location very easily, if at all. Besides, he has moved out of our grasp, for now at least. And remember, we need her to get to him, not the other way around. With Narcissa in our hands, then we have control over the young brat. She will be the bait to capture Draco."

The Shadow Lord paced back and forth for a few moments. "She's not at the manor or at the cottage. We weren't able to get the other address, but then again, Lucius did have that apartment he would use here in London."

The Shadow Lord recalled that Lucius occasionally would use a fancy apartment in London near the Ministry of Magic. Very few people even knew that Lucius had that apartment. Perhaps that is where Narcissa might be hiding.

He then turned to the two men, "I have another address for you to investigate, but it would be best to go first thing in the morning." He then pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and wrote down the address. Then he handed it to the men. "Your target may be hiding here. If you find her, you know what to do."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

Nott and Parkinson were standing by a large window that gave a view of the Black Lake. There was no one else in the halls at this time as they were talking. Theodore had managed to discretely place silencing charms around them just incase there were any other charms that had already been placed that could be used to spy on them.

"We have several sets of ears in a few of the houses, not to mention the number of growing supporters already within our own house," he began.

"Good, we will need all the support we can get," stated Pansy. "Now, we need to do something to truly show our support for the Shadow Lord, something that will let him know his cause is not falling on deaf ears among the students."

Theodore shook his head. "I don't know, I'm worried that with Potter making publicity again with having two girlfriends, everyone is going to be reminded of his being the hero and how the Dark Lord was defeated and we might lose all of our support."

Pansy's eyes lit up. "That's it! We take away his support!"

Nott shook his head, "You lost me Parkinson, exactly how do we take away his support? We can't touch Greengrass or Bones, or do anything about the articles in the Daily Prophet."

"We can't touch Daphne, that blood traitor," sneered Pansy, "but we can do the next best thing."

Theodore suddenly began to understand. "Could it really be that simple?"

"If we time it right, and get a little lucky," she replied. "We learned about some of those secret passages during the last year of school. One of them leads right to Hogsmeade. If we can get her alone near there, stun her, and take her down the passage, no one will know what happened. We can come up with alibis for everyone involved."

Theodore became suspicious. "But how do we know we won't get caught?"

"We use a simple plan, but use intermediaries," she said. "We get others to get her friends to be busy, so that Astoria is alone, coming back from studying. We arrange for a distraction, and if all goes well, we can get this down within the next 24 hours."

* * *

~~~~…~~~~OOOoooOOO~~~…~~~

* * *

**AN: I tried to address some comments from a few reviews within the chapter — so some of you might have noticed that. Sorry that this chapter took so long to finish and get posted, but life happens. I have been working on planning out the rest of the plot for the story, so hopefully it won't be so long between updates, but then again, I'm not about to make any promises. **

**So, right now, the story does seem to be getting away from the original premise as indicated from the title - but have no fear, I have not forgotten the purpose of the story, and neither have the main characters...**

**Thanks again for reading, reviewing, and all of that...and I will be getting back to my other stories...eventually.**


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